Synthetic Traffic & Bot Farms: the Pros of Behavioural Graphs

Smart Money experts discuss innovative methods for combating fraud and bonus abuse in the gambling industry.

About Synthetic Traffic in the Casino Niche

The concept refers to thousands of fake participants who create the appearance of successful advertising campaigns, steal bonuses, distort LTV, and cause providers multi-million-dollar losses. These artificially created farms grow faster than anti-fraud services, making them difficult to detect and block.

Today, synthetic traffic is increasingly being called a systemic problem of the iGaming sector. Bots can destroy the economy of any entertainment project if they are not detected and stopped promptly.

According to Infosecurity Magazine:

• more than half of gambling companies (51%) lose 10% of their revenue due to the actions of intruders;
• most respondents (76%) face fraud at the stages of account registration and data verification;
• bonus abuse, including through fake profiles, takes up to 64% of all criminal schemes.

Security experts from the Internet publication noted that AI-powered bots are increasingly being used to illegally receive rewards and steal promotional offers. This is one of the most popular types of scams in the iGaming industry.

What Does Synthetic Traffic Consist Of

The concept is a complex ecosystem. It includes many elements that disguise themselves as real players, but in fact, they are fake.

Main types of fraud in this case include:

1. Bot farms. These are organised networks that manage thousands of customers who do not actually exist. The technology simulates registration, the passage of KYC procedures, replenishment of accounts with the minimum amount, and activation of bonuses.
2. Profile clones with repeating patterns. There are hundreds of options with identical DeviceID, Canvas, and WebGL fingerprints, a virtual data warehouse, as well as other characteristics. Traditional anti-fraud systems do not always classify such clients as clones, although in fact they are the same player, just under different masks.
3. Rented identities. These are used to launder bonuses and make fraud-friendly deposits. Thanks to purchased bank details and fake selfies, such accounts easily pass KYC checks, even though the gambler behind the screen is a bot, not a real person.
4. Scripted farms. The term can be explained as programs that practice identical behaviour patterns, automated bets, and template paths through the casino product. It is very difficult to detect such a rogue network, as the traffic is skillfully disguised under an organic engagement.
5. Grey affiliates. This is the name given to webmasters who claim to attract active and solvent gamblers. In reality, they buy bots, receiving CPA or RevShare rewards for these customers.

According to Inside Bitcoins, the European market loses $5.2 billion annually due to scams related to fake accounts, bonus theft, and illegal schemes. All sectors of the digital economy, including iGaming, are affected.

Why Anti-Fraud Systems No Longer Cope with Synthetic Traffic

Traditional security services have worked according to the same principle for decades. They analysed the behaviour of each player using key metrics such as IP address, device, browser, and click-through rate.

With the advent of synthetic traffic, this approach has lost its effectiveness. Farming studios and grey affiliates have ceased to look suspicious at the individual account level and have learned to disguise themselves as real clients.

Modern bot farms use the following tools:

• proxy pools that change IP addresses every second;
• mobile IP masking services;
• browser profiles;
• Android emulators;
• change of time zones, localisations, and languages ​​to suit target markets.

This makes each fake account look like a real player. The anti-fraud system detects genuine and highly engaged clients who are actually computer programs.

How Behavioural Graphs Fight Bot Farms

Even if each profile seems different, there are always repetitive marks within such a fraud group:

• interchangeable login devices;
• identical IP pools circulating within the proxy network;
• the same deposit patterns (amounts, currencies);
• a similar set of games where bots make minimal bets and withdraw funds quickly;
• common settlement methods (e-wallets, bank cards, and PSP channels);
• identical browser-canvas prints.

A bot farm can also be identified by the same network characteristics, such as ASN or DNS resolvers. Fake accounts often register within a narrow time window, after which their gaming activity stops abruptly.

To classic anti-fraud systems, each fake profile looks random. Behavioural graphs, however, analyse such accounts in a complex way, which allows them to easily identify hidden associations.

The Position of Regulators on Synthetic Traffic

The world’s leading authorities are increasingly exploring the topic of fraud and bonus abuse. They believe that ignoring these issues leads to actual violations of AML and KYC requirements, harming both players and operators.

The UK Gambling Commission explicitly points out in its reports that:

• online casino owners are obliged to assess the quality of affiliate traffic;
• providers are responsible for the actions of their partners and related persons;
• any suspicious activity should be thoroughly investigated.

The UKGC has already fined several entertainment brands for failing to monitor affiliate networks, insufficient control over traffic sources, and disregard for bonus hunting.

The Maltese regulator recommends using advanced analytics, including graph-based behavioural models. This can quickly identify manipulations with rewards and financial operations.

The Scandinavian gambling commissions (Sweden Spelinspektionen, Denmark DGA) are introducing mandatory analysis of the behaviour of customer groups. The main attention should be paid to KYC and device verification, as well as monitoring suspicious network structures.

Experience of Market Leaders in Combating Bot Farms

Major operators are already successfully using behavioural graphs, device clustering, transaction network analysis, and pattern recognition.

Entain

The company is one of the leaders in the implementation of graph analytics. Its ARC (Advanced Responsibility & Care) platform includes several modules that enable 24/7 tracking and studying of partner traffic.

For example, the Device Clustering service interconnects dozens of accounts that:

• use the same virtual devices;
• switch between shared fingerprint databases;
• repeat the characteristic authorisation manner.

In total, ARC takes into account more than 50 parameters of gadgets used to enter the digital platform, including hardware specifications, browser micro-patterns, localisation, interface language, and other metrics.

The Transaction Path Analysis module conducts a comprehensive study of payments. It identifies connections between financial instruments and repetitive operation routes that reveal abuse.

Flutter Entertainment

Behavioural graphs have been successfully integrated into the architecture of the brand’s entertainment products, ensuring their high reliability and security.

The company performs multi-level clustering of each client based on login device, traffic sources, gaming scenarios, and money movement models. If multiple clusters are combined into one group, the Affiliate Anomaly function is activated, and an additional verification of that customer is made.

Flutter also maintains statistics on each partner by:

• comparing actual and expected LTV;
• studying the naturalness of retention metrics;
• calculating the synthetic traffic coefficient.

Bet365

The brand analyses not only standard fingerprint parameters but also hidden behavioural cues of devices. These include the same set of system fonts, repeated timings, browser initialisations, similar GPU patterns, and other characteristics.

Based on the data obtained, a primary assessment of Internet traffic is performed. Already at the registration stage, the provider can distinguish real players from fraudsters.

Why Behavioural Graphs Are the Best Tool for Combating Bots

Let us look at the key advantages of the solution:

1. KPI improvements. Graph models remove automated programs and clusters of fake players, “clean” product metrics, and provide a realistic picture of the audience’s actions. Operators should work only with interested gamblers, thus increasing GGR, retention rate, LTV, and other key performance indicators.
2. Reduced marketing costs. Entrepreneurs can save on CPA and RevShare payments by collaborating only with honest and reputable webmasters. Budget optimisation is also achieved through a more reasonable bonus policy. Scores and loyalty points are awarded to real casino visitors, not fake profiles.
3. Improved security. Graph models identify multiple accounts, fraud with payments, unjustified chargebacks, and other types of scams that project owners face.
4. Improved brand reputation. Providers should guarantee a fair and transparent betting process, without fake profiles, bonus theft, or illegal advantage in the game. All this increases trust in the entertainment platform, making it attractive to clients and B2B partners.
5. Regulatory compliance. Behavioural graphs help with AML control and monitoring of grey affiliates’ activity. This reduces the number of incidents and external audits, allowing operators to enjoy a stable and secure business environment.

The Main Things about Synthetic Traffic and Bot Farms in Gaming

Graph models are an effective way to combat dishonest affiliates and networks of computer programs.

Aspects that casino owners should take into account:

• The solution improves the KPIs of gambling projects, enhances security, and reduces marketing or bonus costs. The application of this tool improves the reputation of brands and helps them meet regulatory requirements.
• A key feature of graphs is a comprehensive analysis of linkages between accounts. This approach allows for the rapid identification of hidden associations and the immediate blocking of suspicious user profiles.

The Smart Money studio provides cutting-edge security services for the online casino business.

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