The arrival of the Qatar World Cup should make sportsbooks more relevant, as we increasingly have fans of the country's most popular sport signing up and regularly placing bets with football. However, security is an important factor for both bookmakers and the consumer who wants to participate and earn money from the practice.
According to data released in 2022 by the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), the main entity for the licensed betting industry, regulated online sports betting operators lose around BRL 131 million (USD 24.7m) per year precisely due to the manipulation of results.
One of the alternatives to increase security in this sector is background checks, which can be incorporated into the onboarding process – entry of new users –, in order to mitigate possible crimes within the platform, such as money laundering.
“The virtual bookmaker landscape is relatively new. What we can say is that bookmakers are adapting to security, compliance, legislation and the like right now. Therefore, the ideal is for these companies to think about security on both sides,” explains Marcus Cairrão, specialist in Business Consulting and CEO of IAUDIT Tecnologia, a company specialized in technology, compliance and auditing with more than 20 years in the market.
According to Cairrão, there are two types of background checks: the first is the Massified Background Check, which can be directly connected to the platform's onboarding process via API. It is ideal for high volume checks that need to be done quickly and safely.
The second option is the Personalized Background Check, which focuses on checking employees or companies at the time of hiring and annual revalidation. Finally, a report is generated and delivered to the contracting company, which makes the decision whether or not to hire that candidate/company. It is important to remember that the parameters for accepting a new user or a new employee are applied by the contracting company.
What risks can be avoided?
Currently, scams are increasingly common in the digital environment. In Minas Gerais, a medical student is being investigated for carrying out scams in sports betting houses. He captured victims through social networks by proposing investments through trade in sports betting platforms. The suspect was already being investigated in Maranhão for the same type of scam.
According to the expert, to avoid this, massive background checks can be an alternative for the entry of new users that can generate losses for customers and for the bookmakers themselves. Cairrão also highlights some advantages of the background check for the sector.
"Safety and reliability are certainly the biggest advantages. When a bookmaker is trustworthy, people automatically tend to choose it, after all no one wants to take risks when talking about money. The bookmaker also mitigates risks of being involved in money laundering, financial and tax fraud, among other crimes that can be committed by users within the platform," he explains.
Seeking to solve this, it is also possible that the bookmaker itself applies background checks on its employees, increasing confidence in hiring people who have access to users' data and reducing possible data leaks among other crimes.
"Imagine that, via the background check process, a bookmaker receives a report saying that the new candidate for Finance Manager is responding to a corruption lawsuit. The bookmaker probably wouldn't hire that person," Cairrão says.
Ideally, the bookmaker should apply the background check end-to-end, avoiding crimes on both sides, as we are dealing with sensitive data and financial values. Background checks give people more confidence and ensure there are no second thoughts behind the games.
"Another important point is to emphasize that a company is made up of people and people can make mistakes. However, when you have clear verification guidelines, in addition to mitigating these opportunities for error, you also present yourself to society and the competent public agencies as a prudent company," concludes the CEO of IAUDIT Tecnologia.
Source: IUDIT Tecnologia
