FINNS JOIN ANTI-FRAUD NETWORK

22 August 2008

Versatility of collaborative fraud management system showcased


Paf, the Finnish online gambling company that provides Internet real money games such as slots, bingo, lotteries, poker, casino and skill games from its base in Eland, has joined the Ethoca collaborative fraud management network.

While many people are under the impression that online fraud activities are confined largely to fraudulent use of credit cards resulting in chargebacks, Ethoca points out that precautions against this sort of dishonesty can also include other forms of unwanted activity that impact the bottom line or the integrity of a service offering.

The company uses Paf as an example of this wider applicability of anti-fraud networks, revealing that the company was experiencing a rash of "chip dumping," a practice that involves a player intentionally losing for the benefit of the remaining players in a group. By tapping into Ethoca, Paf gained access to an entire community of payment and other unwanted experiences - allowing the company to identify suspicious player behaviour before it prejudiced profits or player confidence.

Paf processes hundreds of thousands of transactions daily, generating Euro 106 million turnover and annual profits of Euro 42 million, which makes the firm a natural target for fraudsters. To combat the potential for fraud, Paf is currently making further investments in beefing up its fraud prevention team and has identified Ethoca as a crucial building block that enables the company to not only more effectively share its own internal fraud experiences, but also leverage a wider community of payment experiences to root out fraud.

The Finnish gambling company is currently looking to expand its strong position in Northern Europe, and in order for that expansion to be successful, Paf will need the capability to meet the varying fraud requirements in different countries, which Ethoca can prpovide across Europe.

By securely connecting its members to a collective pool of member-provided payment experience information, Ethoca enables its members to make more informed decisions about their customer transactions in a way that is efficient, ethical and not in any way a competitive threat.

"As a gaming company, fraud is far more than a chargeback. It is any unwanted activity that threatens our bottom line and impacts the integrity of the environment of our loyal players," said Marko Hietala, head of fraud and forensics for Paf. "Paf has been building a powerful internal fraud team to tackle these activities and we see Ethoca as the perfect partner to keep chip dumping at bay."

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