Connect with us

Latest News

As eSports become more popular, time for the industry to get real about security

Published

on

 

Police in Ukraine recently seized 3,800 PlayStation 4 consoles, which currently retail for around 290 each, and found to their surprise that the operation wasn’t mining cryptocurrency as they assumed but was in fact being used to generate content packs for FIFA Ultimate Team, a popular game mode in the FIFA football series.

The raid and its results underline a fact that may escape more traditionally minded members of the gaming community: eSports is a major industry, and like any industry it is susceptible to fraud. The fact that the games themselves take place virtually is irrelevant to fraudsters who can use the familiar toolkit of multi-accounting, bonus abuse and affiliate fraud to earn thousands.

With many sports teams unable to play throughout much of 2020 and 2021, eSports grew massively. League Championship Series (LCS), one of the largest eSports leagues, became the third most viewed professional sports league amongst 18-34 year olds in the U.S and has retained its corporate sponsors at a time when other leagues were shut down. Success stories like these are blunted by how pervasive eSports fraud is,

So, what kinds of fraud are taking place in eSports, what is it costing eSports organizations and what can be done to stop it?

What kinds of fraud are possible in eSports?

eSports attracts very similar types of fraud to regular sports betting, including:

  • Bonus Abuse: Like other sports betting companies, eSports companies often give sign-up bonuses such as free bets to new players. By coding automated systems, a fraudster can sign up to hundreds of accounts and use the free bets to win real money. This can cost gaming companies up to 15% of their revenue.
  • Multi-accounting: Similarly, a fraudster can use multiple accounts to perform other types of fraud, such as matched betting, ‘smurfing’ or arbitrage of affiliate fraud.
  • Affiliate Fraud: Those eSports betting organizations that draw in some of their new players from affiliates are vulnerable to affiliate fraud in which an affiliate creates fake accounts to gain the pay-out.
  • Account takeover: Using lists of passwords from data breaches, keyloggers or phishing a fraudster can gain access to a player’s account and drain their funds.
  • Chargeback fraud: A player, who may be a legitimate gamer and not a professional fraudster, initiates a chargeback on a transaction. This is common in gaming when gamblers regret a bad bet and claim that their account was hacked.

The costs of eSports fraud

Fraud costs have a way of snowballing, with each $1 lost through fraud actually costing companies $3. The above techniques are hardly equivalent to the major data breaches of major banking and tech companies that cost on average $3.86 million, but the constant barrage of low-level frauds can soon drain your company’s security budget. Aside from the cost of the fraud itself, there are a number of hidden costs such as:

  • Chargeback losses: Investigating and disputing chargebacks will take up your risk team’s time, leaving them little time for more valuable activities. More worryingly, a company with a large number of chargebacks is likely to find it difficult securing credit or loans. Visa and Mastercard’s resolution processes are making things even more difficult for merchants, so you are likely to lose even more.
  • Affiliate budget waste: You could be paying for useless clicks from bot networks rather than legitimate customers, wasting your marketing budget and reducing overall ROI.
  • Reputational damage: Once word of mouth spreads about customers losing the entire bank accounts to account takeovers it will not be long until players start deserting your site.
  • Regulatory fines: The regulations around eSports are not as stringent as with other sports betting, but it will not be long before they catch up. With the industry growing it will not be long before countries put regulations in place to protect players, and without stringent security your company could be fined.

The solutions

You will notice that the majority of the types of fraud common in eSports have to do with fake accounts. These are easy for fraudsters to create using the wealth of publicly available data and leaked information, but fortunately artificial intelligence-based tools have been developed that allow companies to spot synthetic identities.

Through device fingerprinting, email profiling and IP analysis a complete picture of a new signup to your site can be created, allowing software to spot the tell-tale signs of a hastily created account. For example, it could find that an email address does not match any social accounts, or that they use VPNs and data centers to conceal their IP address.

Of course, a sophisticated fraudster could create a convincing fake identity, especially with the wealth of information available from data dumps, so modern technology can also spot the use of pre-paid credit cards or even the speed with which information is entered, which could indicate it is being filled in automatically by a script.

By combining data points from a large and ever-growing set a system can determine whether it is likely that any given new account is fraudulent. For the many cases in which it will not be fully clear whether an account is authentic or not adaptive Know Your Customer checks can be used – customers with several red flags will be given full tests to determine their identity whereas other customers will have less obtrusive tests for a smoother site experience.

eSports has gone from a niche concern to an Olympic sport in a few short years, and that success is going to attract fraud, so it is vital for the industry to pre-emptively defend against fraud by adopting the very highest levels of security.

To learn more, visit: https://seon.io/

cfo

Scientific Games CFO Nick Negro to depart May 15; Ray Anderson named interim

Published

on

scientific-games-cfo-nick-negro-to-depart-may-15;-ray-anderson-named-interim

Anderson has served as interim CFO since May 4 as Scientific Games begins a search for a permanent finance chief.

Scientific Games said May 12 that Chief Financial Officer Nick Negro will leave the company on May 15, ending a three-year tenure. The company said Negro is departing for an opportunity based in Chicago to be closer to family.

Scientific Games has appointed Ray Anderson as interim Chief Financial Officer, effective May 4, while it searches for a permanent CFO.

“Nick has been a strong member of our leadership team and an advocate for the potential of Scientific Games,” said Pat McHugh, Chief Executive Officer for Scientific Games. “During his time with the company, he significantly strengthened our financial and procurement organizations and helped position Scientific Games for continued growth. We thank Nick for his contributions and wish him all the best.”

Anderson is a CPA with more than 30 years of global experience, including senior roles at KPMG across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Most recently, he served as a Global Lead Partner advising Fortune 500 companies on audit, capital markets and regulatory strategy, and previously led KPMG’s Pacific Southwest audit practice for six years.

“Ray is a highly respected finance leader with extensive global experience advising large, complex organizations,” said McHugh. “We are confident in his ability to support the business and our Finance organization during this transition.”

The post Scientific Games CFO Nick Negro to depart May 15; Ray Anderson named interim appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Scientific Games Announces CFO Transition

Published

on

scientific-games-announces-cfo-transition

Scientific Games announced today that Chief Financial Officer Nick Negro will be leaving the company on May 15 after three years of success in the role leading the company through three years of growth.

Negro is departing for an opportunity based in Chicago that allows him to be closer to family.

To ensure continuity during the transition, Scientific Games has appointed Ray Anderson as interim Chief Financial Officer, effective May 4, as the company begins the search for a permanent CFO.

“Nick has been a strong member of our leadership team and an advocate for the potential of Scientific Games,” said Pat McHugh, Chief Executive Officer for Scientific Games. “During his time with the company, he significantly strengthened our financial and procurement organizations and helped position Scientific Games for continued growth. We thank Nick for his contributions and wish him all the best.”

Anderson is a seasoned finance leader and CPA with more than 30 years of global experience, including senior leadership roles at KPMG across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Most recently, he served as a Global Lead Partner, advising Fortune 500 companies on audit, capital markets and regulatory strategy, and working closely with boards and executive teams. Immediately prior to this role, he led KPMG’s Pacific Southwest audit practice for six years.

“Ray is a highly respected finance leader with extensive global experience advising large, complex organizations,” said McHugh. “We are confident in his ability to support the business and our Finance organization during this transition.”

Serving 150 lotteries in 50 countries, Scientific Games is the world’s largest lottery games company, fastest growing lottery systems provider and a leading provider of digital lottery solutions.

© 2026 Scientific Games, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

The post Scientific Games Announces CFO Transition appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

Continue Reading

instant games

Scientific Games completes systems conversion for New Mexico Lottery

Published

on

scientific-games-completes-systems-conversion-for-new-mexico-lottery

Modernization adds Momentum ecosystem tools and rolls out new terminals and self-service machines to 1,000+ retailers statewide.

Scientific Games has completed a technology systems conversion for the New Mexico Lottery, modernizing lottery operations with a new gaming system and rolling out retail technology to more than 1,000 locations across the state. The update went live May 11, 2026, according to the company.

Scientific Games said the new system now powers the Lottery’s draw-based and Scratchers’ sales and is designed to simplify product management for retailers. The conversion also includes the launch of the Scientific Games Enhanced Partnership (SGEP) instant game management program, which the company said combines analytics, logistics, retail optimization and product strategy.

“The New Mexico Lottery is officially live with new, modern technology systems that work together to enhance all aspects of our operations and ensure we are well-positioned for our next era of growth,” said David Barden, CEO of the New Mexico Lottery. “We’ve strategically planned every step of this holistic modernization effort with Scientific Games to intelligently operate our retail network, making our Scratchers games easier for retailers to manage in their stores and easily accessible to our valued players.”

Scientific Games said the conversion was developed over the past year and is built on its Momentum ecosystem. Components cited include an advanced central gaming system, the SciTrak instant game distribution system, the gem | intelligence retailer licensing and management portal and the INFUSE business intelligence platform. The company said WAVE clerk-operated terminals and PlayCentral self-service machines will be deployed to retailers in planned phases.

“Congratulations to the New Mexico Lottery for building upon our long-standing instant scratch game partnership, embracing innovation for the future,” said John Schulz, President of Americas & Global Instant Products for Scientific Games. “We are proud to serve as the Lottery’s full-line partner and help drive maximum proceeds for New Mexico college students.”

The post Scientific Games completes systems conversion for New Mexico Lottery appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Continue Reading

Trending

Get it on Google Play

Fresh slot games releases by the top brands of the industry. We provide you with the latest news straight from the entertainment industries.

The platform also hosts industry-relevant webinars, and provides detailed reports, making it a one-stop resource for anyone seeking information about operators, suppliers, regulators, and professional services in the European gaming market. The portal's primary goal is to keep its extensive reader base updated on the latest happenings, trends, and developments within the gaming and gambling sector, with an emphasis on the European market while also covering pertinent global news. It's an indispensable resource for gaming professionals, operators, and enthusiasts alike.

Contact us: [email protected]

Editorial / PR Submissions: [email protected]

Copyright © 2015 - 2024 - Recent Slot Releases is part of HIPTHER Agency. Registered in Romania under Proshirt SRL, Company number: 2134306, EU VAT ID: RO21343605. Office address: Blvd. 1 Decembrie 1918 nr.5, Targu Mures, Romania