With the increase of demand for eSports after the pandemic, people are spending heavily to compete online. According to a survey people spent around $21.1 billion on online gaming platforms in 2021. The gaming market is worth around $160 Billion and it is predicted to cross $200 billion in the coming future!
In today’s world, people are choosing gaming as a profession to earn money. Online gaming has created significant opportunities for gamers to play and earn but on the other hand for cybercrime activists as well to abuse the system through various Online Scams.
The Fraudsters use different strategies such as fake websites and malware attacks to exploit the players to charge money.
This blog is a complete guide to Online Gaming Safety to prevent Online Scams for a safe and enjoyable gaming experience.
Online Gaming Frauds Everyone Needs to Know
Scammers nowadays find many different ways of finding vulnerabilities within a system to find different ways of cheating and money laundering. Gaming Platforms are no different as many Cybercriminals tend to use Online gaming to scam different players online.
Here are some of the Online Scam strategies used in the Gaming Industry you need to be aware of.
Phishing
Phishing is an Online technique of getting sensitive information, call it personal information, Credit card information, or any other data through a fake instance of a genuine application or Website. The Attacker masquerades a Trusted Identity and dupes the user to input information they require. In simple words tricks the user to get their account details.
Buying Gaming Accessories from Third Party Websites
Many times Scammers try to redirect the Users to third-party Websites and applications by offering them fake discounts and other flashy Benefits to lure them into a trap. Signing up on those Websites with your personal information is a Serious Problem!
Using Mods and Patches to Up your game
Another trick that is shown to many gamers is to Mod the game to always score highest among your team. Those mods are created to steal your identity information such as account passwords and Pins by monitoring your Keypresses and Clicks.
Fake Versions for Mobiles for Many Popular Games
Some of us might’ve seen People playing Valorant and Apex Legends on their Mobile Phones, Well, These games are not yet available on Mobile and those versions are created to lead towards Online Identity Theft and Blackmailing.
Online Gaming Verification With KYC
KYC Checks are now made mandatory for every gaming Corporation to verify the identity of the user before letting them access the in-game Lobby. The KYC or Know your Customer Check is essential to prevent Online Gaming Frauds. The Benefits KYC Brings to Online Gaming are as follows:
Minors Protection Online
The Age Verification process is the first thing every Game opts for whenever someone tries to Launch its engine to fulfill the age guidelines of the user. Many Games are developed for a certain age audience, Age verification check is mandatory to protect children and underage individuals from playing games over their limit. The age Verification process helps in preventing Online fraud such as blackmailing.
Biometric Verification
The game engines are built with Artificial Intelligence Technologies, The system identifies the user through human traits such as Fingerprints and Face scans to ensure the correct person is on the other side of the screen. To guarantee Gaming Safety online, Biometric verification is a must by which users can protect their identity and sensitive information.
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) in Gaming
The Customer Due Diligence process is followed as every Gaming corporation needs to keep a track of the users playing actively on their servers. CDD Process ensures that the right person is accessing the account of the player. Setting up Security questions, Short Session timers, real-time identity verification, and AML screening are some techniques of the CDD Process. Online gaming verification and safety can be achieved by the successful implementation of the Customer Diligence Process.
Liveness Detection
Liveness detection is the advanced technique used for real-time face verification of the User that many companies follow to detect their player’s Online status, This can be identified by Video or Image Processing of the real-time user by the system. Most companies opt for Liveness detection when registering or Logging the user into their server. This process can improve the Identity Verification process and prevent Online Scams of Identity theft and Data Leakage.
Conclusion
Gaming has evolved to a state where people spend billions of dollars to get their favorite accessories either a fancy suit in Fortnite or some new skins for the weapons in CS GO. It has become a profession of people to play and earn. With Earning in mind, Scammers have invented many different ways to Launder Money from players Online either by accessing their accounts or by stealing Identity. To ensure security Online, the Complete KYC Process needs to be followed in order to fully protect the Gaming Community Online.
