At a time when more players than ever are gambling online, it has become increasingly important for operators to carry out player checks to mitigate the risk of fraudulent activity.
However, for some, this can often be seen as quite a ‘laborious’ task. According to Anastasia Vyshinskaia, anti-fraud team lead at SoftSwiss, this is where the SoftSwiss Anti-Fraud team steps in.
Speaking to CasinoBeats, Vyshinskaia explained that player security checks are a fundamental part of helping operators mitigate instances of bonus abuse, duplicate accounts, and ‘potential collusion’ – all of which is important for reassuring consumers of honesty and transparency.
CasinoBeats: First of all, can you tell our readers a little bit about the Managed Services department?
AV: Managed services is a part of SoftSwiss solutions offered to clients to help them deliver player/customer support for their igaming brand. The department comprises first line support, anti-fraud support, retention, VIP management services which allow providing our clients a centralised customer support.
If we are talking about the department in general, then the range of services offered is impressive – this is 24/7 support, performing player fraud checks and examining potentially fraudulent activity, preparing promotions and mailings, launching player reactivation campaigns and the list goes on and on.
CasinoBeats: Looking at your anti-fraud team in particular, what are their main duties?
AV: The regular workday of a team member consists of detecting and investigating suspicious activity, performing daily reviews of regular big winners, and carrying out more advanced security checks on suspicious players.
Of course, there are always tasks that require immediate intervention. For example, recently there was a case when a player found a loophole in a game that gave out regular small winnings.
The player then created many accounts on different projects in order to remove suspicion. We were on to it: we quickly found and closed the accounts, and, most importantly, we managed to complete the case without any financial loss for operators.
CasinoBeats: In what ways can the anti-fraud team’s services help companies mitigate instances of bonus abuse, duplicate accounts, and ‘potential collusion’?
AV: There are many companies that offer solutions to identify bonus abuse patterns, duplicates, collusion, money laundering and others. We are no exception. I cannot disclose all the internal features, but together with our technical team, we develop tools that allow us to automatically check the player’s profile according to specified parameters with the use of AI (IP addresses, personal data, payments etc.).
In addition to AI automatic identity checks, the service is not complete without traditional manual checks, which among all other things, provides an opportunity to double check the results.
CasinoBeats: On the whole, how does the anti-fraud service contribute to both honesty and transparency of the processes within SoftSwiss?
AV: Sometimes it may be quite difficult to reassure consumers of honesty and transparency, in my opinion, however it is true to all spheres of life related to money making and withdrawing. Honestly, adhering to these principles is a laborious process because you have to balance between client and player. Therefore, I would like to clarify it with a specific example.
It’s no secret that players and operators don’t always see things the same way. As a result, the players go to forums or directly contact the licensing authorities with complaints. And that’s where we come in.
We objectively consider each complaint and act according to regulatory requirements despite the fact that we are a paid service. Perhaps this sounds a little too perfect, but we really strive to act in the best interests of both the player and the operator and look for a fair solution to any type of dispute.
CasinoBeats: And finally, as more countries begin to open up to gambling regulation, why are such services as the SoftSwiss managed services so important in ensuring compliance with applicable licensing and regulatory requirements?
AV: The first people that players come into contact with when visiting online casino projects are our teams. Compliance with license requirements of licenses is one of the main tasks of our department.
We are a flexible team, constantly improving our expertise and work processes in accordance with prescribed requirements. Indeed, in the event of violations, a project may be fined or, in the worst-case scenario, deprived of a license. Therefore, our task is to monitor 100 per cent compliance with legislation and license requirements.
