Games were considered a means of enjoyment in previous times. The old-school single-player games were based on stories and realism. The concept of gaming has quite changed now. The new era of gaming is not only meant for entertainment rather it is becoming a profession. People are choosing gaming as their main source of income and spending their time and assets on gaming platforms. The concept of multiplayer gaming enables players to play and communicate with each other virtually. As the interaction is remote the chances of unusual activities and scams also arise. To prevent these risks online gaming safety measures are taken by the gaming industry.
Gaming Scams And Frauds
The gaming industry is expanding each day with multiple opportunities for the players. The market size is increasing at a quick pace. According to Statista, the value of the e-sports market in the US was recorded at $86 billion in 2021. With a market so hot in revenues, the attackers are always looking to take advantage of the system for their illicit purposes of money laundering and identity theft. The fraudsters use several new techniques to lure the players into traps. The online gaming industry is heavily impacted by these methods of exploitation.
Taking Away the User Accounts
Every gaming corporation provides multiple features for the players in the game. The players can buy those perks by spending real-world money. The best example is buying skins and suits in CSGO or Fortnite for the game characters to look different from others. The attackers use multiple strategies by offering new and updated skins to the users at low costs. These fake tricks are used to get identity information and gather money from the players. The identity information is then misused by the cheaters to deceive other users in the gaming system to take away their user accounts.
Phishing Attacks
The phishing strategy is an old method of stealing user account passwords and information to take away their digital accounts. This method was implemented on social networking sites in the past but now the gaming sector is also facing phishing attacks. The users are provided with the infected link by fake players who are attackers with stolen accounts. The real user is asked to click on the URL for different bonuses and in-game content. Clicking those infected links redirects the users to the fake sites which prompt for the email ids and passwords of the user. Those fake sites are completely replicated from genuine game websites which lure the users into a trap and their credential information is stolen.
Stealing Player’s Credit Card Information
The other ways of affecting gamers are by stealing their credit card information. The attackers have developed new tools and software which are being implanted on the payment modules of the platforms. The user is offered different promotions on payments with credit cards. Some fake platforms also offer credit card authorization and safety checks for free. Many gamers fall for these traps as these promotions sound appealing for their in-game achievements. The credit card information is stolen as the software system records all the sensitive data being generated with the transaction of the user.
Using Cheat Engines To Automate Game Performance
Another new way of laundering money from is by using cheat engines to automate the game’s performance. This method is implemented for winning competitions and prizes which are offered by the gaming corporations. Most prizes nowadays are cash prizes worth millions. The cheaters use these illegal tools to exploit the game engine from their end and disrupt the gameplay of the game. The most used example is the aim bot in shooting games, which uses AI to automatically target the other player, causing an in-game loss for others.
Online Gaming Verification With KYC
The KYC process is conducted to verify the identity of the user before letting them in the game lobby. This process is performed by most gaming corporations to reduce fraud and crimes in the industry. With the customer due diligence process in gaming, the user is evaluated with a complete identity checkup to distinguish between the real player and the attacker. The process involves different aspects of validation checks such as biometric identification, and age verification in gaming as per guidelines. The KYC process ensures that no unauthorized player accesses the game’s resources, providing an enjoyable and entertaining gaming experience for the users.
Bottomline
The gaming industry is expanding each day with revenues touching billions of dollars. The industry also faces a number of threats as the cheaters try to exploit the system for their illegal means of money laundering and identity theft. Online gaming safety measures are taken by most gaming corporations. They verify the user with a complete KYC identity verification process to ensure the credibility of the player and restrict the attackers from availing the resources of the system.