Latest News

New report today reveals a staggering 85% increase in online fraud with over a fifth of all online traffic now an attack

Published

4 years ago

February 8, 2022

George Miller

Reading Time: 3 minutes

In the UK: gaming, online streaming and social media sites, travel and retail/ecommerce companies are the worst hit by fraudsters
Experts also find that the metaverse is already fast becoming a fertile breeding ground for cybercrime and newly defined, ‘Master Fraudsters’

A new report released today, The 2022 State of Fraud and Account Security, is warning UK commerce that it faces its most challenging year ever. Experts from the Arkose Labs Network, an online fraud deterrence platform, analyzed over 150 billion transaction requests across 254 countries and territories in 2021 over 12 months to discover that there has been an 85% increase in login attacks and fake consumer account creation at businesses. Alongside this, it identified that a quarter (one in four) of new online accounts created were fake. A further 21% of all traffic was confirmed as a fraudulent cyber attack.

“From the earliest days of online information to the rapid evolution of today’s metaverses, the internet has come a long way. However, this latest data shows that it is more under attack than ever before,” said Arkose Labs Founder and CEO Kevin Gosschalk.

He continued: “Your digital identity is a currency for fraudsters and wherever there is online commerce, cybercriminals are quick to identify vulnerabilities.”

The new report focused on a number of key themes:

The Worst Attacked Sectors in the UK

The latest research took a deep dive into UK business specifically to understand which sectors were the most attacked by online criminals. The ongoing popularity of online gaming puts it top of the list for fraudsters with almost half (46%) of all the attacks in the UK, as seen by Arkose Labs. Digital media companies (social networks and online streaming platforms) are also high value targets and represent a third of all attacks, seeing an 88% increase since 2020. Across all sectors including ecommerce/retail, travel, gaming, financial services, one in every four new online accounts created were fake throughout 2021.

Metaverse companies are more likely to be targeted by “Master Fraudsters”

The rise of virtual worlds has created new attack opportunities for bad actors. Early insights from the Arkose Labs Network show scams, microtransaction abuse, and unfair play are the top threats in a metaverse world. These companies experienced 80 percent more bot attacks and 40 percent more human attacks than other businesses. “Master Fraudsters” attack their targets by scripting together multiple tools with intense persistence. They combine bots and human fraud farms, and invest large amounts of capital, creating virulent attacks. Top attack patterns Master Frauders use to disrupt fair commerce include microtransaction fraud, spam and scams.

Crypto-fraud sees Asia overtake Russia as the world leading attacking region

In prior years, Russian attacks were more common, but in 2021, attackers from Asia took the top spot, with 40 percent of all attacks coming from this region. One in every two Asian attacks originated from China. Leveraging an ecosystem of tools and low-cost resources, two-thirds of Chinese attacks targeted registration, primarily driven by abusing free trials at cloud computing platforms for crypto mining.

Credential Stuffing attacks see a significant spike

Attacks are more volatile than ever. A single attack can consume nearly 80 percent of traffic at peak periods, and in 2021, credential stuffing spikes hit up to 76 million per week. Attack rates doubled during peak season in November, making it the most dangerous month in 2021. Bots were used almost exclusively in Black November.

The Intelligent Bot

Attackers have continued to invest in increasingly sophisticated bots. Bots mimic human behavior with a high degree of accuracy and in 2021 accounted for 86 percent of all attacks. Today’s bot signatures are three times more complex than signatures of previous years. This level of sophistication makes it more difficult to assess risk and make accurate decisions. Businesses require even more sophisticated analysis to detect anomalies and prevent loss.

Arkose Labs provides support for some of the world’s most recognized brands and platforms, including Honey, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PayPal, Pitney Bowes, Roblox, Venmo, and Zilch, covering industries, including financial services, fintech, gaming, retail, technology and social media, representing more than 1 billion social media users, 60 percent of online video gamers, and 40 percent of all retail volume.

American gambling industry

Gaming Americas Weekly Roundup – January 26-February 1

Published

3 hours ago

February 3, 2026

Wladimir P.

gaming-americas-weekly-roundup-–-january-26-february-1

Welcome to our weekly roundup of American gambling news again! Here, we are going through the weekly highlights of the American gambling industry which include the latest news and new partnerships. Read on and get updated.

Latest News

ComeOn Group has launched its new marketing campaign in Ontario. The campaign underscores ComeOn Group’s long-term commitment to sustainable expansion – powered by ComeOn’s proprietary technology and a clear focus on delivering standout, personalised entertainment experiences at scale. At the centre of the campaign is a series of premium television commercials starring Jeremy Piven, a long-standing ComeOn brand ambassador. Piven’s high-energy presence and authentic connection to sports reinforce the brand’s entertainment-first positioning, bringing ComeOn’s sportsbook experience to life across TV and digital. Produced by ComeOn Group’s internal creative hub, the campaign provides a cohesive creative platform that clearly differentiates the brand in a crowded market.

Michigan commercial and tribal operators have reported a combined $399.8 million total internet gaming (iGaming) gross receipts and gross sports betting receipts in December. Gross receipts increased 19.1% compared to November. December iGaming gross receipts totaled $315.8 million, the highest to date. The previous high was $278.5 million recorded in October 2025. December gross sports betting receipts totaled $84.0 million, which is a decrease from the $87.3 million recorded in November. Combined total iGaming and internet sports betting adjusted gross receipts (AGR) for December were $357.87 million, including $296.74 million from iGaming and $61.13 million from internet sports betting — representing an iGaming increase of 27.2% and a sports betting decrease of 5.6% when compared to November 2025.

The Cordish Companies and Bruce Smith Enterprise celebrated the highly-anticipated grand opening of Live! Casino Virginia, the region’s first full-scale casino. The opening of the temporary gaming facility marks an important milestone in bringing new jobs, economic development and tourism to the region while construction advances on the permanent resort destination next door. Located just 25 miles south of Richmond and only 45 miles north of the North Carolina border, Live! Casino Virginia is conveniently off I-95 at Exit 48B. Live! Casino Virginia delivers a full-scale gaming experience 24 hours a day, seven days a week, featuring 75,000 square feet of gaming space with more than 900 state-of-the-art slot machines and over 30 live-action table games.

Partnerships

GuardDog, a responsible play innovation fund from Underdog, has announced an investment in Regen, the first platform to automatically convert entries into savings with every play. In addition to the investment, Underdog will feature Regen as a new resource in its responsible play hub, highlight Regen in customer communications from the responsible play and customer support teams as well as provide access to the platform to all of its employees. Regen allows users to link their sportsbook, fantasy sports and prediction market accounts, and automatically save a small percentage from every entry, win or loss, creating savings without changing how they play.

Table Trac Inc. has announced that the Mardi Gras Hotel & Casino located in Las Vegas, United States, Nevada, will soon have Table Trac Inc.’s CasinoTrac casino management system installed. Mardi Gras Hotel and Casino is located just steps from the Las Vegas Convention Center and Main Monorail terminal the Mardi Gras is convenient to all of the World Famous attractions of Las Vegas.

The post Gaming Americas Weekly Roundup – January 26-February 1 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Africa Bet Partners

How Traffy Cut FTD Cost in Half and Scaled Betting in Tanzania for Africa Bet Partners via Moloco Ads

Published

4 hours ago

February 3, 2026

Wladimir P.

how-traffy-cut-ftd-cost-in-half-and-scaled-betting-in-tanzania-for-africa-bet-partners-via-moloco-ads

This case highlights the impact of systematic optimization in Moloco Ads for the Betting vertical. Despite market turbulence in East Africa, Traffy not only maintained Africa Bet’s KPIs but also significantly improved ROI through deep, data-driven optimization.

Project Overview

Africa Bet Partners Offer: Betting
Traffic Partner: Traffy
Source: Moloco Ads (Google Play Inventory)
Geo: Tanzania (TZ)
Period: 2 months
Total Spend: ~$42,000

Final CR (Reg-to-FTD): 60%
Final CR (FTD 1-to-FTD 2): 45%

Challenge and Initial Metrics

At the launch of the campaign, the situation was challenging. The complex economic and political environment in Tanzania had a direct impact on consumer purchasing power and the stability of payment systems.

Initial Cost per FTD: $15.00

Goal: Reduce the cost of the target action to below $8 and identify scaling potential.

Optimization Strategy: What Was Done

The success of this case is the result of Traffy’s consistent work across four key areas:

1. Traffic Quality Management (Exchanges & Publishers)

Traffy conducted a comprehensive audit of publishers (placements) through which Moloco acquired inventory.

Blacklists were created based on low deposit conversion.
Collaboration was optimized with specific ad exchanges that demonstrated stronger Retention.

2. Creative Strategy

Traffy moved away from standard approaches and implemented a system of regular testing of new creative packs. Creative optimization significantly increased CTR and IPM, providing the Moloco algorithm with more data for learning.

3. Traffic Cleanup to Avoid Paying for Bots

Placements with suspicious install times (CTIT) were filtered out to protect against click flooding.
Device “farms” were identified and banned through Device ID analysis.
Using BI tools, installs were cross-checked with real user activity. Placements with no engagement were added to the Blacklist.

4. Funnel Optimization

Through targeting optimization at the campaign level, Traffy attracted more relevant users. This led to an increase in the CR from registration to FTD up to 60%, which is an abnormally high indicator for this region.

Key Insight

Deep publisher analytics in Moloco Ads combined with category segmentation allows reducing deposit cost by more than 2x while maintaining high player quality (Retention and repeat deposits).

Result

Traffy not only met Africa Bet’s KPIs but also built a stable model for further scaling. Even in “difficult” geos, a systematic optimization approach makes it possible to achieve outstanding results. At the moment, the campaign continues to run, and user Retention (FTD 2) shows organic growth.

The post How Traffy Cut FTD Cost in Half and Scaled Betting in Tanzania for Africa Bet Partners via Moloco Ads appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Africa Bet Partners

How Traffy Cut FTD Cost in Half and Scaled Betting in Tanzania for Africa Bet Partners via Moloco Ads

Published

4 hours ago

February 3, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

Project Overview

Africa Bet Partners Offer: Betting
Traffic Partner: Traffy
Source: Moloco Ads (Google Play Inventory)
Geo: Tanzania (TZ)
Period: 2 months
Total Spend: ~$42,000

Final CR (Reg-to-FTD): 60%
Final CR (FTD 1-to-FTD 2): 45%

Challenge and Initial Metrics

Initial Cost per FTD: $15.00

Goal: Reduce the cost of the target action to below $8 and identify scaling potential.

Optimization Strategy: What Was Done

The success of this case is the result of Traffy’s consistent work across four key areas:

1. Traffic Quality Management (Exchanges & Publishers)

Traffy conducted a comprehensive audit of publishers (placements) through which Moloco acquired inventory.

Blacklists were created based on low deposit conversion.
Collaboration was optimized with specific ad exchanges that demonstrated stronger Retention.

2. Creative Strategy

3. Traffic Cleanup to Avoid Paying for Bots

Placements with suspicious install times (CTIT) were filtered out to protect against click flooding.
Device “farms” were identified and banned through Device ID analysis.
Using BI tools, installs were cross-checked with real user activity. Placements with no engagement were added to the Blacklist.

4. Funnel Optimization

Key Insight

Deep publisher analytics in Moloco Ads combined with category segmentation allows reducing deposit cost by more than 2x while maintaining high player quality (Retention and repeat deposits).