Compliance managers braced for fraud spike

A survey of gaming compliance managers has found 93% expect to see an increase in fraud and chargebacks during the pandemic.

UK.- Compliance managers working in the gaming industry fear a spike in fraud during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A survey conducted by Know Your Customer (KYC) and customer onboarding specialist, HooYu, has found that 93 per cent of gaming compliance managers expect an increase in fraud and chargebacks, while 88 per cent of those surveyed said they believed the pandemic created an increased risk of financial crime across regulated sectors such as online gambling.

HooYu launched the survey after the UK Financial Action Task Force (FATF) warned that the pandemic was creating opportunities for money laundering and fraud due to increased remote consumption of digital services, changes in spending habits, widespread remote working and greater financial stress.

It surveyed 30 operators to measure their readiness to respond to an heightened risk of financial crime as part of a webinar on the FATF warning held alongside the Malta Gaming Authority and AML compliance training experts AMLGS.

HooYu Marketing Director, David Pope, said: “The fines levied on operators may make the headlines but what never gets reported is the work that eGaming compliance managers do to perform KYC.

“From work with our clients we see operators not only understanding the money laundering risks but also transitioning from Know Your Customer to a culture of Understand Your Customer.”

Ray Wilson, Director at AMLGS, said: “We’ve seen gaming operators build new models and new processes quickly to identify and respond to the threat of Covid-19. 

“It’s positive to see that last week’s webinar revealed that 71 per cent of compliance managers will be taking forward new best practices they have developed to respond to emergent threats such as Covid-19.”