Promotions and affiliate programs drive growth in a fiercely competitive iGaming market, but they also invite bonus abuse and multi-account fraud that can erase the return on acquisition spend. Easy account creation, signup bonuses, and loyalty programs give fraudsters plenty to exploit, and many operators have accepted the losses as the cost of doing business. A more proactive approach is available.
How multi-account fraud hinders iGaming growth
Multi-account fraud is the cornerstone upon which many iGaming attacks are built. Fraudsters create dozens, even hundreds, of accounts using fake credentials in order to tilt the balance in their favor online. This tactic can be used to commit various scams, including bonus and promo abuse, gnoming, and chip dumping.
Bonus abuse, also known as promo abuse, is a huge part of the problem. Fake accounts collect signup bonuses, coupons, and other promotional offers. Promos are a great way to attract new players, but they become a financial burden when they aren’t properly restricted. Because a bonus can usually be claimed only once, fraudsters set up multiple accounts to claim it again and again.
Some platforms have built alternatives to bonuses, such as exclusive items that provide perpetual cash back, which can retain players better than a signup bonus. Even so, any generous offer attracts abuse, and a platform that hands out too many promos to fake accounts can end up running at a loss.
Why bonus abuse is accelerating
The numbers show the pressure building. Sumsub’s third annual iGaming Fraud Report found that suspicious transaction volumes rose 4.5x between Q1 2025 and Q1 2026, while the average value of a suspicious transaction climbed from $3,960 to $6,500. The same research put the global iGaming fraud rate at 1.53% in Q1 2026, an 18% increase year over year.
AI is a big reason. Fraudsters are using it to scale bonus abuse, opposite betting, bot creation, and multi-accounting, relying on synthetic faces, edited documents, templated identities, and mass-generated applications. That makes it cheap to produce a convincing new player over and over.
Operators feel it. A report from May 2026, as summarized by Altenar, found that 78% of North American gaming professionals name bonus abuse as the most significant fraud threat facing the sector. Altenar also notes that some operators are expected to lose up to 15% of revenue to promotional abuse and related fraud. Treat that as an upper estimate, but it shows how much margin is at stake.
Warning signs fraud teams should watch for
Most bonus abuse doesn’t announce itself. These are the patterns that tend to show up first:
- Shared attributes across accounts. The same device, IP address, payment method, or email pattern appears on accounts that should have nothing in common.
- Deposit and withdraw cycles with little real play. Accounts claim a bonus, move money in and out, and never behave like a player.
- Unusually fast bonus completion. Altenar flags rapid bonus completion as a common indicator.
- Linked referral networks. Self-referral and connected referral rings inflate affiliate and referral payouts.
- Registration spikes around big events. Major tournaments, seasonal casino campaigns, and new-market launches all bring surges, and fraudsters deliberately strike when fraud teams are stretched thin.
No single signal proves abuse. Fraud analysts get better results when they read signals together across the whole signup journey, not one at a time.
How to design promotions that are harder to exploit
Detection matters, but promotion design does half the work. Fixed bonus templates are easy to exploit, because fraudsters learn the pattern once and repeat it. A few changes make abuse less profitable:
- Release bonuses in stages. Tie each payout to verified, genuine play instead of paying everything upfront.
- Vary offers by segment. Predictable offers are easy to farm, and varied ones are harder to automate against.
- Review affiliate payouts when multi-accounting climbs. A spike in linked accounts from one traffic source is a reason to pause and investigate before paying out.
- Tighten thresholds before big events. Adjust your decisions ahead of a registration surge, not after the damage is done.
The principle underneath all of it is simple. A bonus hunter can rotate devices and emails, but can’t easily become a different live person. The more closely you tie each account to one real human, the less a promo is worth to a fraud ring.
How Sift helps iGaming operators prevent account fraud
Sift gives operators more control over the player journey, so they can run promotions for new and returning players without worrying about fraud. The approach is highly configurable and data-driven, built in partnership with iGaming leaders, and it fast tracks legitimate players while automatically stopping fraudsters.
Sift supports a three-pronged approach that protects the return on player acquisition by identifying, automating, and accelerating promo and bonus abuse prevention:
Identify. Sift assesses thousands of signals across the player journey and aggregates them into a Sift Score from 1 to 100, where 1 is trustworthy and 100 is likely fraud. The score changes in real time and draws on fraud patterns from Sift’s global network. The Network tab adds a visual dashboard of players connected through attributes ranging from IP analysis to custom criteria, which makes multi-account creation easy to spot.
Automate. Industry-specific automation, built with iGaming leaders, helps operators separate legitimate players from fraudsters. Unlike traditional rules-based engines, Sift’s approach is rooted in machine learning. It analyzes behavior along the signup journey and removes promo offers based on decisions configured at each stage. Criteria can include common indicators such as IP address and email, along with custom indicators unique to your business.
Accelerate. Embedded case management helps fraud teams move faster through complex cases that automation doesn’t resolve, while legitimate signups are fast tracked to protect conversion.
The results hold up. Sift has played a crucial role in the rapid, safe growth of 75% of the U.S. iGaming market. With Sift, iGaming businesses reduce manual reviews to 1.3% and reach a 95% safe interaction approval rate while keeping fraud in check.
Learn more about how to ensure the sustained growth of your iGaming business.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between bonus abuse and muli-accounting?
Bonus abuse is the goal, claiming promotions you aren’t entitled to, usually more than once. Multi-accounting is the most common method of fraudsters to achieve it, where one person or ring opens many accounts to claim the same offer repeatedly.
Why is bonus abuse growing in iGaming?
Promotions are more generous and competitive, and AI tools make it cheaper to create convincing fake identities at scale. Sumsub’s research ties AI to growth in bonus abuse and multi-accounting.
Can operators stop bonus abuse without hurting legitimate players?
Yes. Looking at signals across the whole signup journey lets teams fast track legitimate players and stop repeat claims from linked accounts. Staged bonuses and targeted reviews also add checks without slowing everyone down.
