How Bookmakers Detect Multi-Accounting and Protect Themselves

About the Concept

Multi-accounting is the practice of registering several pages on a single bookmaker portal by the same person. Most websites prohibit these actions, but fraudsters still find ways to circumvent the rules.

The creation of various profiles is used to achieve an unjustified advantage.

Players can create new accounts to:

• repeatedly receive welcome bonuses;
• participate in promotions illegally;
• bypass restrictions previously set by the bookmaker.

Some customers register additional profiles to lower betting limits. If business owners have limited the maximum size of a deposit for casino visitors, they can continue their activity through a new profile and hide their actual gaming history.

A separate violation category comprises organised schemes that involve dozens or hundreds of accounts. Such profiles can be created by a single person or a group.

Fraudsters systematically abuse bonus programs, engage in arbitrage strategies, and carry out various illegal projects.

Why Multiple Accounts Are a Risk for Bookmakers

This phenomenon negatively affects several areas of work of entrepreneurs, from welcome programs to compliance procedures.

Bonus Theft

By registering multiple accounts, users can repeatedly receive welcome points, free bids, insurance on bets, and other incentives originally designed only for new customers.

This increases the operator's marketing costs and reduces the effectiveness of bonus campaigns.

Ineffective Risk Management

Bookmakers use various risk mitigation instruments, including:

• betting limits;
• personal restrictions for selected players;
• user activity assessment systems.

With multiple accounts, people can bypass such restrictions and continue doing things that operators have already recognised as undesirable and high-risk.

Distorted Analytics

It is important for bookmakers to know the actual number of active online casino visitors. This allows them to accurately calculate the cost of attracting bettors and analyse their life cycle.

When one person plays from multiple accounts, statistics are badly distorted. Marketing and product decisions are based on incorrect data, resulting in lost profits.

Financial Violations

Linked profiles can be used for fraud, including using other people's bank cards, e-wallets, or stolen payment information.

Such actions increase the likelihood of chargeback requests, financial losses, and claims from PSP partners.

Circumvention of KYC and AML Procedures

Multi-accounting makes it impossible to comply with the following requirements:

• KYC — Know Your Customer;
• AML — Anti-Money Laundering.

If a client creates various profiles with different personal information, uses someone else's documents, or intentionally hides the link between accounts, it becomes more difficult for operators to establish the gambler’s true identity and accurately assess the level of risk.

Such actions undermine the effectiveness of authentication procedures and complicate monitoring of the audience’s financial activity. This can lead to bookmakers violating regulatory requirements or even losing their licence.

Organised Networks of Accounts

Dozens of profiles can be managed by a single person or group. They coordinate with each other to profit from bonus programs, arbitrage strategies, and other abuses.

Such schemes can cause significant damage to both individual brands and the entire online betting ecosystem.

How Bookmakers Combat Multi-Accounting

Modern betting platforms are actively investing in technologies for detecting linked pages. They use device fingerprinting tools, behavioural analysis, payment transaction monitoring, online activity analysis, and AI algorithms.

Device Fingerprinting

This is a combination of characteristics that can accurately identify a login device.

When players visit a betting site, the browser automatically transmits a wealth of data to the server. This includes the operating system, screen resolution, system language, time zone, video card specifications, installed fonts, and other information.

Each of these recorded metrics is not unique. However, when the service combines several dozen parameters into a single set, a digital fingerprint with no analogues is created.

For example, if a bettor registers several accounts and enters them from the same PC, the system will immediately identify the devices. Even clearing the browser will not protect against a fraudster, since most modern technologies function independently of cookie files.

IP Address and Internet Connection Analysis

To combat fake profiles, business owners use the following tools:

1. Examination of IP addresses. Bookmakers keep the login history of all accounts. This allows the system to see the country and city from which the user accessed the platform, the Internet provider used, and the frequency of changes in connection quality.
2. Analysis of the overall network profile. For example, the program may notice that 2 accounts regularly log in from the same place, use identical VPN services, or connect through similar servers.
3. Detection of masking tools. To protect themselves against fraud, bookmakers study databases of VPN solutions, proxy options, and anonymisers. Most popular VPNs have long been recognised by anti-fraud programs, so using them always increases the likelihood of verification.

Behavioural Analysis and Digital Biometrics

Modern anti-fraud systems can collect and study a large amount of data. They take into account cursor movements, page scrolling speed, intervals between clicks, typing patterns, the sequence of actions within the interface, and other parameters.

At first glance, such characteristics may seem insignificant, but together they form a unique player profile.

The service analyses not only individual actions but also patterns of behaviour over a long time:

• how quickly a gambler navigates between sections of the website;
• how often a person changes the type of bets;
• how clients interact with bonuses or handle financial operations.

If multiple accounts display similar patterns, this often indicates a connection between them. Such coincidences become an additional risk factor and may serve as grounds for a more detailed investigation by anti-fraud programs.

Examination of Payment Transactions

When a customer deposits or withdraws funds, the bookmaker automatically receives information about the selected financial instrument. This could be a bank card, e-wallet, bank account, or any other settlement method.

If several profiles use, for example, the same card, the likelihood of a scam increases significantly.

Anti-fraud systems analyse both direct matches and connections based on:

• the owner of the financial instrument;
• repeated payment patterns;
• similar deposits and withdrawals, or other circumstantial evidence.

In many cases, financial activity helps identify links between profiles and leads to additional checks, requests for records, and a more detailed analysis of an account.

Identity and Document Verification

Licensed bookmakers are required to conduct user authentication by applying the KYC method. During this procedure, bettors provide a passport, national ID card, or driver's licence.

Modern systems automatically verify document validity, detect signs of image editing, and compare the data with the information provided during registration.

The anti-fraud service also performs the following tasks:

1. Requires a selfie or video verification. Players may be asked to look into the camera, turn their head, or take a simple action to confirm that the person in front of the camera is real and not a photograph.
2. Examines additional information, such as the place of residence, phone number, and email address. If multiple accounts use the same or very similar data, this may be the reason for a more thorough review.

Analysis of Betting and Gaming Habits

Over time, all casino visitors develop their unique betting style. Some clients prefer football, others tennis, eSports, or exotic disciplines. There are people who place small bids on popular matches, while others seek rare markets with high odds.

Anti-fraud systems carefully study these habits. They analyse which events players choose, when they make deposits, the sums they use, and how similar their wagering strategies are to those of other accounts.

Artificial Intelligence

In recent years, many large bookmakers have begun using AI technologies to combat fraud. Such programs can process huge amounts of data much faster than humans.

Algorithms obtain information about:

• devices;
• payments;
• IP addresses;
• documents;
• customer behaviour.

They then look for patterns and build connections between various objects. This allows the system to instantly see if several accounts use similar devices, the same deposit methods, or identical betting patterns.

Graph databases are often used for analysis. In them, every profile, device, phone number, bank card, or IP address becomes part of a large fraudulent network.

Even if there is no direct match between two accounts, the algorithm can detect a chain of indirect connections through shared financial details or login history.

Manual Verification

Despite the development of automated solutions, the final decision is still often made by humans. When algorithms detect suspicious activity, the information is passed on to the bookmaker's security department.

Employees can review betting history, verify documents, analyse account sign-ins, and check payment transactions.

Sometimes, even cases of contacting the support service are examined, as people often use similar communication styles or accidentally share data that helps establish a connection between profiles.

The Main Things about Combating Multi-Accounting

The registration of several pages on entertainment portals is quite common in the betting sector.

Key aspects that operators should remember:

• Multi-accounting can distort a bookmaker's analytics, reduce the effectiveness of risk management, and lead to financial mishandling. Besides, it often leads to massive bonus theft and other abuses by players.
• Device fingerprinting, IP address and Internet connection study, as well as biometrics, can be used to fight these violations. Programs based on artificial intelligence and the decision to learn about the gamblers’ payment and behavioural habits also give good results.

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