Misturat AlausaProxy betting is one of the growing challenges online sportsbooks face because it allows restricted or self-excluded individuals to place bets using another person’s account or identity. When bettors use borrowed identities, shared accounts, or third parties to bypass eligibility restrictions, sportsbooks may struggle to enforce their Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements and responsible gambling measures.
Preventing proxy betting and identity fraud requires sportsbooks to go beyond checking an account during registration. They need to put reliable identity verification, appropriate geolocation controls, and ongoing account monitoring in place to identify suspicious activity. Understanding how proxy betting works, how betting account fraud can spread, and which verification measures help reduce these risks is essential for protecting sportsbook platforms and their customers.
Why Is Proxy Betting a Rising Identity Fraud Risk?
Proxy betting involves an individual placing bets on behalf of another, often to help someone bypass account restrictions, self-exclusion measures, or eligibility requirements. This becomes a challenge for online sportsbooks, because the person using the account may not be the individual whose identity was verified during registration. As a result, account-sharing arrangements and the misuse of another person’s identity can weaken controls designed to establish who is betting.
The risks associated with proxy betting can increase when combined with geolocation fraud, which occurs when someone misrepresents or conceals their physical location to bypass geographic restrictions. Identity verification helps sportsbooks establish who a customer is, while geolocation controls help determine where they are accessing the platform from. If these checks are not properly integrated, restricted bettors may find ways to circumvent platform rules, exposing operators to compliance concerns, financial losses, and reputational damage.
How Does Betting Account Fraud Spread Across Platforms?
Betting account fraud can spread across platforms when criminals reuse stolen login credentials, exploit compromised identities, or create multiple accounts to evade sportsbook controls. Fraudsters may use techniques such as credential stuffing, account takeover, and multi-accounting to access other users’ accounts, misuse promotional offers, or place bets using identities that do not belong to them. Sportsbooks can identify possible connections between suspicious accounts by examining shared device information, repeated identity details, unusual account activity, and mismatches between account holders and payment details.
A real-world example shows the scale betting account fraud can reach. In June 2026, the US Department of Justice announced the sentencing of a defendant involved in a scheme that used previously stolen login credentials to compromise approximately 60,000 accounts on a fantasy sports and betting website. The group stole around $600,000 from approximately 1,600 accounts and sold access to compromised accounts. Although this was an account takeover scheme rather than proxy betting specifically, it demonstrates how stolen credentials can be reused to target betting platforms at scale.
Effective betting account fraud prevention requires more than checking each account in isolation. Online sportsbooks should link suspicious activity across accounts, monitor changes in account access, and apply appropriate identity verification checks to help fraud teams identify coordinated activity before further losses occur.
Which Identity Checks Help Prevent Proxy Betting?
Preventing proxy betting requires combining sports betting identity verification with document checks and account monitoring. Sportsbooks need to confirm that an account belongs to a real, eligible individual and check for signs that someone else may be using that identity. Integrating these measures can help reduce identity fraud and strengthen controls against betting account misuse.
Key identity verification checks include:
- Document verification: Examine government-issued IDs for inconsistent details, signs of tampering, and mismatches with the information submitted during registration.
- Optical character recognition (OCR): Extract information from identity documents and compare it with the details provided by the applicant and other available verification data.
- Biometric facial matching and liveness detection: Compare the applicant’s face with the photograph on their identity document and check whether a real person is present during verification.
- Account and behavioural monitoring: Look for unusual login patterns, repeated identity details across multiple accounts, or changes in device and account activity that may require further investigation.
Preventing proxy betting requires more than one verification check. For example, someone may pass identity verification during registration but later share their account with another person. Sportsbooks therefore need to combine reliable identity checks with ongoing monitoring to identify suspicious activity and determine when further checks or investigation is necessary.
Talk to our team to find out how Prembly can help your platform prevent identity fraud and verify users with confidence.