Think you’re protected against bonus abuse? The numbers might surprise you

European iGaming operators are losing an estimated €5bn each year to fraud, with bonus abuse rapidly emerging as one of the industry’s most damaging and complex threats.

According to iGaming fraud studies, 47% of European iGaming platforms said fraud cost them more than 10% of their turnover in 2024. A further 15% reported losses exceeding 20%, while 83% of operators said the problem had worsened year-on-year.

Traditionally, fraud prevention strategies have focused on anti-money laundering (AML) controls and Know Your Customer (KYC) verification. However, operators now report the battleground has shifted well beyond onboarding. More than three-quarters of European operators say fraud now occurs after customers have registered, with 64% identifying bonus abuse as one of the biggest risks to their business.

The deposit phase has become a particular pain point, according to industry data, cited by 42% of operators as the stage most vulnerable to fraud. Promotional offers designed to drive acquisition and retention are increasingly being exploited by organised groups that use multiple accounts, automation and artificial intelligence to extract value while avoiding detection.

“Traditional systems struggle because they often rely on fixed rules based on isolated actions,” said Stian Enger Pettersen, Head of Casino at EveryMatrix. “They treat every player the same way, no matter what its profiling is.”

Fraudsters are now deploying AI-powered tools to blend in with legitimate players, spreading activity over time, avoiding suspicious betting patterns and targeting specific bonuses. In response, operators are increasingly adopting AI-driven solutions of their own to move from reactive fraud management to proactive prevention.

That shift underpins Bonus Guardian, EveryMatrix’s new AI-powered bonus abuse prevention tool. Built on machine learning and deep behavioural analysis, the solution is designed to identify complex abuse patterns that rule-based systems cannot detect.

“Bonus Guardian scales well, so if you have campaigns that suddenly attract many bonus abusers, you don’t need more staff on duty,” Pettersen said. “It acts faster and creates fewer false positives than manual analysis. Bonus Guardian continuously learns from billions of game rounds. It adapts and can detect patterns not visible to the human eye.”

According to EveryMatrix, this approach allows operators to identify early behavioural signals of abuse – such as highly structured play or activity limited to bonus periods – before financial damage is done.

Bohdan Bezrukyi, Product Owner at Bonus Guardian, adds: “A rule-based approach often leads to configuration complexity. Every new bonus campaign or abuse strategy requires manual setup, which is both time-consuming and error-prone.”

As regulators increase scrutiny of bonus practices across Europe, operators face mounting pressure to protect revenues, ensure fair play and demonstrate proportionate, explainable decision-making. For many, AI-driven bonus abuse prevention is becoming a critical line of defence in an increasingly high-stakes fight against fraud.

For a detailed analysis of the hidden cost of bonus abuse, click here.

The original version of this article was published by iGaming Business.