How does Gaming Verification Help Fight Scams and Provide Online Gaming Safety?

As much of a ravage, coronavirus has proved to be for the entire business sector, it has incurred adverse effects on society as well. Apart from the businesses, educational institutions, and the entertainment sector, every single individual has suffered from it, directly or indirectly. The early stage, however, was very difficult to cope with as people were confined to their homes with no signs of recovery and the only solution was the suspension of operational activities through strict lockdowns.

How did Gaming Save People from the Confinement?

Amidst the chaos and to save themselves from the torturous confinement, people started searching for their own coping mechanisms, and gaming turned out to be everyone’s go-to. Deprived of the social interactions and normal daily routines, people found much-needed relief in gaming. Consequently, the gaming industry that was already thriving, experienced a boom during the pandemic. Where strict lockdowns proved extremely detrimental for businesses and transformed their operational activities, they turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the gaming industry. As thousands of people were restricted to their homes, they turned to the digital entertainment sector to maintain their sanity levels.

The Need for Gaming Verification?

However, the relief came with a cost. Very soon, the scammers noticed the increased audience engagement on online gaming websites. Moreover, they detected loopholes in their security systems and did not let the opportunity go to waste. This is exactly when they intervened with their disruptive strategies and brought turmoil into the user’s safe gaming experience.

Apart from the increased audience engagement, what attracted the scammers was the absence of adequate age verification systems, due to which even minors could access the gaming content, specifically restricted for the adults. Although this particular sector was never safe from the fraudsters, the loopholes during the pandemic accounted for the surge in gaming scams. Hence, keeping in view the turbulence in the gaming industry, the local and global regulatory authorities devised measures for online gaming safety and issued strict orders for the gaming websites to deploy adequate age verification systems. Hence, the Know Your Player Protocols perform appropriate customer due diligence in gaming to ensure online gaming safety.

The Most Common Gaming Frauds: 

Negligence in the implementation of adequate online gaming verification with KYC resulted in the following gaming frauds during the covid pandemic: 

• Fake Cheat Codes and Gaming Tips: One of the most used strategies of scammers is offering fake cheat codes to the players who eagerly acquire them in order to advance to greater levels. Pro gamers are always on the lookout for cheat codes that could assist them in clearing the levels as soon as possible and for this particular purpose, they often engage in online messaging forums.
• This is exactly where they fall prey to the scammers’ fake cheat codes. The player’s message board gets bombarded with links to the fake cheat codes and powerups in exchange for payment. As soon as the payment reaches the scammers they either disappear without sending the codes or send those infected with malicious software.

Credential Stuffing:

• Another common tactic used by scammers to disrupt the gaming website is credential stuffing. Doesn’t really matter how much of a pro gamer one might be, they definitely fall for this particular scam. The fraudsters find it very easy to hijack the player’s username and passwords mostly because the users use the same credential for multiple online accounts.
• The scammers succeed in gaining access to the credentials through a data breach that discloses a multitude of usernames and passwords all at once. The login credentials obtain are then use by them across various online platforms with the intention of hijacking them. Moreover, scammers often acquire these from the dark web.

 

• Offering Unlimited Downloads: Yet another strategy adopted by the scammers is fooling the players into downloading multiple games for free with only a one-time payment of a few dollars. The scammers send the infected links to the users claiming it to be a source of free games which in reality is a link to illegal file-sharing websites. By clicking on the link, the user infects their system with malware.
• Phishing Scams: These have been the most common source of disrupting the normal functioning of gaming websites. The scammers apply this particular gaming fraud to fool the players into giving in their login details. This is particularly done via emails asking for a password change which are actually means of extracting the account details

Importance of Know Your Player Protocols in Gaming: 

In the light of the above discussion, it would be safe to say that gaming websites are in dire need of adequate implementation of Know Your Player protocols.