The threat of fraud has significantly evolved in the online betting and gaming sector over the past decade. With the rapid advancement of AI models in 2022 and 2023, fraudsters gained unprecedented capabilities, leading to serious repercussions for iGaming operators.
Between 2022 and 2024, the online gaming industry saw an alarming average increase of 64% in fraud incidents year-over-year, as reported by Sumsub. A key area of concern has been bonus abuse, where fraudsters employ AI, automation, and synthetic identities to take advantage of promotional offers.
In response, EveryMatrix introduced Bonus Guardian in late 2025, integrating AI-driven technology to tackle the increasing complexity of fraud in the industry. "Bonus Guardian was developed in response to a clear industry challenge," noted Tetiana Dychenko, chief technical officer, casino at EveryMatrix.
"Bonus abuse has evolved beyond what manual reviews and static rule-based systems can effectively address. As organized fraud groups began using AI and sophisticated behavioral tactics, EveryMatrix realized operators needed a targeted solution focused specifically on bonus abuse rather than generic fraud detection."
The platform analyzes hundreds of signals such as gameplay behavior, deposit patterns, wagering progression, and bonus redemption, created through collaboration among AI specialists, product teams, fraud experts, CRM professionals, and casino specialists.
Bonus Guardian supports operators throughout the lifecycle of promotions. It aids in designing campaigns before launch, ensuring they are enticing for legitimate players while minimizing risks for exploitation. Once a promotion is live, the platform continuously monitors player activities like registrations, deposits, gameplay, and withdrawals. Instead of relying on fixed rules, it constructs a behavioral profile for each player, detecting patterns indicative of abnormal or coordinated behavior.
When suspicious activity arises, operators receive a risk assessment and a detailed explanation of the contributing factors. Depending on the identified risk level, operators can choose to monitor suspicious activities, restrict promotional eligibility, impose additional wagering requirements, or hold withdrawals for further investigation.
Dychenko emphasized, "The strength of Bonus Guardian lies in behavioral intelligence. The platform simultaneously analyzes a multitude of signals, including gameplay, deposits, wagering, bonus usage, session activity, and withdrawals, effectively identifying relationships and patterns across multiple accounts that are almost undetectable through manual methods."
As operators face stricter KYC and AML regulations, it remains crucial to provide seamless onboarding and appealing promotions. EveryMatrix recognized the need for a solution that protects legitimate players' flow while reducing fraudulent activities. "One of the platform's strengths is that it enables proportionate responses rather than binary decisions," Dychenko asserted.
While sophisticated fraudsters utilize methods like AI-generated identities and VPNs to dodge typical verification protocols, authentic player behavior remains more challenging to imitate. By examining the way individuals interact with promotions over time, Bonus Guardian differentiates between genuine engagement and organized bonus exploitation.
"Operators can tailor their actions based on their commercial objectives and risk tolerance. This adaptability aids in safeguarding promotional budgets without creating unnecessary obstacles for legitimate participants, striking an effective balance between fraud prevention and customer experience," Dychenko explained.
Available through EveryMatrix’s EngageSuite Bonuses for both casino and sports, Bonus Guardian operates within the promotional framework. This integration allows marketing and risk management teams to work in tandem, designing promotions with an understanding of fraud risk parameters, such as account age and device history.
This alignment is what differentiates Bonus Guardian, enabling operators to craft promotions that are commercially viable while resilient against abuse. “Bonus Guardian fosters collaboration between marketing and risk teams around a common goal: maximizing promotional ROI,” noted Dychenko.
"Marketing teams can create engaging campaigns that enhance acquisition and retention, while risk teams gain insights from customer behavior that highlight vulnerabilities early, before they incur significant costs. Promotions like tournaments and loyalty programs not only reward ongoing engagement but also appeal more to genuine players than to organized bonus hunters looking for quick returns, resulting in stronger campaign performance with substantially less promotional leakage."
As noted by Dychenko, preserving bonus investments has become essential for profitability, particularly in an environment where promotional leakage can constitute 10-15% of bonus expenditures amid rising taxes and stricter regulations.
Thus, by directing promotional funds towards real players and away from fraud networks, operators employing Bonus Guardian stand to enhance their ROI and overall marketing efficiency. Furthermore, by decreasing the burden of manual reviews, fraud teams can concentrate on more significant investigations while marketing teams can trust that campaign outcomes reflect authentic customer engagement.
Bonus Guardian distinguishes itself by addressing a wide spectrum of gambling fraud strategies, including multi-account schemes, synthetic identities, and proxy networks. This flexibility is crucial, allowing operators to customize risk thresholds and promotional rules in alignment with brand identity, player demographics, regulatory needs, and commercial strategies, keeping the platform and its users agile as fraud tactics continue to evolve.
"We aimed to develop a smart system that continuously learns from new behaviors and operator input, facilitating its evolution alongside emerging abuse methods," Dychenko remarked. "Continuous learning is key to the platform. Each confirmed fraud incident, operator review, and behavioral outcome refines the foundational models. As new abuse techniques surface, Bonus Guardian adjusts without necessitating constant rule updates by operators."
Dychenko clarified that success in combating bonus abuse isn't solely based on the number of flagged players. Instead, metrics such as improved detection accuracy, lower false positive rates, expedited investigation periods, and early identification of rising abuse patterns are vital indicators.
As the threat of fraud continues to grow, operators must stay prepared to tackle emerging challenges. "Bonus abuse will increasingly become more organized, automated, and tougher to differentiate from legitimate player activities," Dychenko alerts. "Fraudsters will harness AI to examine promotions, fabricate identities, and rapidly shift their strategies, compelling operators to adopt equally adaptable technologies."
The seriousness of bonus abuse cannot be overlooked, with Sumsub’s iGaming Fraud Report for 2026 revealing that nearly two-thirds of all fraud in the industry is attributed to this issue. Between Q1 2025 and Q1 2026, suspicious transactions in online gaming skyrocketed by 350%, while the average transaction value surged to over €6,000.
Additionally, the LexisNexis report on online gaming fraud in North America published in March 2026 indicated that 78% of operators view bonus abuse as the most significant fraud threat, with 57% identifying direct fraud losses as the greatest impact on business operations.
