AI-Based IP Risk Detection and Macro Filtering with Global Identity platform, ARGOS
Why aggressive marketing strategies are now a double-edged sword in the betting industry
The sports betting industry is more competitive than ever. To stand out in a saturated market, sportsbooks are pouring resources into aggressive marketing campaigns, especially PPC (pay-per-click) ads targeting new users with promotions like free bets and first deposit bonuses (FTDs). These tactics are designed to drive conversions but they’ve also become a prime target for abuse.
When Promotions Backfire
According to recent research by TRAFFICGUARD, up to 44% of traffic for even the largest sportsbooks is either invalid or fraudulent. For smaller operators, the numbers range from 33% to 42%, making the problem equally severe. Malicious actors are exploiting these bonus offers using AI-powered bots that mimic human behavior and flood campaigns with fake clicks draining advertising budgets while yielding zero real users.
The result?
Skyrocketing Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
Falling conversion rates
Misleading campaign data
A growing loss in profitability
Bot Tactics: Smarter, Faster, Harder to Detect
These aren't ordinary bots. AI-driven automation now enables malicious actors to:
Simulate realistic browsing behavior
Delete cookies to avoid detection
Create and control multiple fake accounts
Repeatedly abuse signup bonuses
Access sites through rotated proxies to hide IPs
By mimicking real users, these bots undermine the performance of marketing campaigns and push out genuine players who miss out on limited-time offers due to early abuse.
The Hidden Threat: Proxy-Based IP Masking
One of the most common evasion tactics is proxy access via ISP servers. These proxies disguise the attacker’s location, allowing them to bypass basic geo or IP-based filters and appear as legitimate users. Traditional traffic filters struggle to catch these attacks in real time especially when the bot activity is spread across thousands of unique IPs.
Fighting Back: Smarter Verification, Lower Fraud
Leading sportsbooks are now taking a multi-layered approach to stop the abuse before it begins:
Bot-detection tools that analyze behavior during initial interactions
Real-time traffic filtering that blocks suspicious IPs and device signatures
User identity verification (eKYC) at sign-up to prevent multi-account creation
IP risk intelligence to detect proxy/VPN use
Advanced solutions go further by limiting promotions only to verified users, ensuring that bonus campaigns target real potential customers not sophisticated botnets.
With mobile betting, live odds, and online casinos expanding globally, the incentive to cheat is growing. Platforms that fail to secure their onboarding and marketing funnels will continue to bleed budget and trust.
The industry is at a tipping point:
Winning the race for new users now requires not just bigger incentives, but stronger protections against bonus abuse.
ARGOS’ Macro Detection and IP Risk Assessment
On large-scale ticketing platforms and sports betting sites, there are increasing cases of malicious actors using macro programs to create numerous fake accounts in order to hoard tickets for popular events. These fake accounts often obtain a large volume of tickets, which are later resold for profit. As these techniques become more sophisticated, traditional pattern-based detection is no longer enough. Genuine users lose their chance to buy tickets, and trust in the platform deteriorates.
ARGOS’s ID check addresses this problem with a comprehensive AI-based fraud prevention solution. It detects and blocks malicious user activity in real time through macro detection and IP risk assessment. For platforms in ticketing or betting, this helps maintain reliability, secure the user experience, and protect the value of promotional campaigns.
From Simple Identity Verification to Fraud Detection
ID check, originally built as a user identity verification solution, has evolved into an integrated platform capable of detecting fraudulent users and assessing risk. Traditional KYC methods have limited capacity to detect users with multiple accounts. In online games, for example, bad actors can create numerous accounts through various IP addresses or submit AI-generated fake ID images to bypass identity checks.
ARGOS counters this with an advanced online authentication system that blocks malicious behavior from the source. Using large-scale data and predictive analytics, ID check assesses risk even before authentication, resulting in over 40% cost savings in KYC operations.
AI-Powered IP Risk Detection and Macro Filtering
ID check leverages data from countless authentication cases to analyze and predict suspicious behavior. For example, on sports betting platforms, ARGOS helps preemptively block abnormal behavior before any promotion or transaction takes place. Its AI-powered IP risk engine and macro detection tools stop bots before they can impact KPIs without requiring extra development work from the customer. These features can be activated or deactivated directly on the authentication screen for maximum flexibility.
Machine Learning Tailored to Your Service
ARGOS builds custom machine learning models trained on user behavior unique to each platform. By analyzing and learning from the data collected through the authentication process, ID check can distinguish fraudulent activity across different industries from gaming to ticketing.
Each sector has its own behavioral traits, and ARGOS adapts the model accordingly. For example, user behavior on a concert ticketing site differs from a sports betting platform, and so should the detection approach. These adaptive models are applied within ID check and continuously optimized for each client’s environment and risk profile.
Customizable AI, Built for Your Platform
ARGOS offers a self-training system that learns from fraudulent behavior specific to each customer. For instance, a concert ticket platform can train the model to detect unusual login patterns or submitted images that often accompany fraudulent activity. As customers continue using ID check, the system becomes more accurate through feedback loops and learning cycles.
ID check gives clients full control over the design of their identity verification flow. For example, a gaming platform may want to apply stricter authentication for users accessing high-value assets. ID check supports this with flexible, data-driven machine learning workflows tailored to the customer’s operational and security needs.
Customers can easily configure workflows to meet different levels of verification, improving both operational efficiency and fraud defense.
The Future of ID check: Industry-Specific AI Security
ARGOS ID check is a robust and flexible solution to fight fraudulent users in industries like ticketing and gaming. In today’s landscape, where attackers use macros to mimic real users, simple pattern recognition is no longer enough. ARGOS combines vast datasets and advanced AI analytics to tackle these threats head-on.
With industry-specific machine learning models on the roadmap, ARGOS aims to deliver even more precise, customized fraud detection tailored to the unique security needs of each client.