A new trend among youngsters is online gaming, which has hyped up in tune with the peak of the coronavirus pandemic. The video gaming industry is expected to generate over $200 billion in revenue by the end of 2023. Mobile games, in particular, are producing the highest revenues and makes one-third of the revenue globally.

Though the high market value is excellent for the economy, that has opened the pathways for minors to potentially expose themselves to gambling and illegal activities. Such consequences give growth to the concerns among the authorities, and regulations are being regularly imposed for their security, such as age verification solutions. Safeguarding online gaming sites from gaming scams i.e, identity verification is much needed for fraud prevention.

Know-Your-Player (KYP) — Online Age Identification

Online age verification is a mechanism of the verification of the age of an entity that will prove that the person in the gaming industry is not a minor and is above the required age. The only purpose of this verification is to prevent minors from using age-restricted services and products, but it is still important to diminish the risk in gaming institutions.

There are several types available, such as age authentication, record-keeping, reducing the spending of the players, risk-sensitive CDD (Customer Due Diligence, which is to gather information about consumers’ identities and contact information, as well as to assess their risks) and, if required for more extensive investigations, EDD (Enhanced Due Diligence, such as those used for high-risk clients, or those who, based on the nature of their company or transactions, are more likely to targeted in money laundering and terrorism funding operations).

There are two main verification checks in the KYP age authentication process such as:

  • Identity document authentication, in which documents are used for the verification of the age of the clients through ID cards, driving licenses, and with the confirmation that the document is not edited, spoofed, or tampered with.
  • Biometric facial verification is the second main verification process that examines 3D likeness and ensures that the picture submitted is of the same person who submitted it.

How Online Age Verification Diminishes Gaming Frauds

Age verification is the responsibility of all institutions and industries, furthermore, all companies are responsible for all communities and businesses to prevent minors from accessing dangerous services. Online businesses use old methods of age verification. These methods include a form where individuals are bound to blindly check the box that reads “I am above 18” or manually asks the minors to declare their age. These authentications can conveniently be manipulated by minors, making the security of online gaming extremely weak.

There are several benefits in consolidating KYP verification, such as:

1. Active and Persistent Attestation Compliance

Such regulations are becoming rigorous over the progression of time, specifically for online markets. The FATF Recommendations outline the necessary steps that nations should take to tackling the problem of money laundering, terrorist financing and the sales of weapons of mass destruction. It may seem like something far-fetched from simple gaming, but considering the steadily-growing amounts of financial resources online today, any such funds can easily be channeled to activities the world should never need to experience!

2. Gaming Fraud Prevention

There are numerous kinds of gaming frauds, such as the below:

  1. Minors manifesting themselves as grown-ups and using these fake personalities to fulfill their profiles.
  2. Users claiming refunds from the gaming industry by insisting with their banks that they have not used their cards to make any payments. These fraudulent claims are usually committed by minors who have access to their parents’ card credentials or other identity thieves.
  3. When credit card details are jeopardized, fraudsters use these details to top-up gaming accounts, and then these payments are withdrawn through cryptocurrenices.

Such illegal activities can be prevented simply by using know-your-player age-verifying examinations.

3. Prevention of Exploitation of Minors

Fraudsters can bully minors and get into their gaming accounts to execute illegal actions. Such mental exploitations are typically call cyber-bullying, and can vary in different degrees of seriousness. In order to improve online gaming protection, age verification can be a quick solution and improve the authenticity of your player database.

4. Improves the Image of the Gaming Business

Sustaining a reliable and trustworthy business is great for both the businesses and the end-users. Knowing your players can guarantee a brand image that brings in more players to the game.

To Sum Up

The internet is full of dangers for our young who are yet unaware of the pitfalls, traps, and consequences of their actions. Scammers are constantly trying to find ways around security systems, and as the internet of things develop, so do scammers upgrade themselves. However, this doesn’t mean we should just stand by and do nothing as insidious acts are committed. Regardless how difficult or easy it may be to prevent such frauds from occurring, we owe it to our young to do our best to protect them, even if it is through a simple act of age verification.

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