With fraud surging by more than 60% year-on-year, the iGaming industry faces a growing and increasingly complex threat. Artificial intelligence now enables fraudsters to forge identities, spoof Know Your Customer (KYC) checks and even mimic real players. Deepfakes, synthetic data and automated bots have made it harder than ever to tell the difference between a genuine customer and a bad actor.
This rising sophistication is only part of the problem. Many iGaming operators still view fraud prevention through a narrow lens – as a defensive measure rather than a strategic advantage. Manual reviews, outdated triggers and siloed teams are able to intercept attacks, but they also risk alienating legitimate players.
Nearly half of European iGaming operators believe fraud cost them more than 10% of their revenue last year. A further 15% put the figure at more than 20% of their total revenues, with 83% of operators claiming the issue had grown year-on-year.
With fraud accounting for industry-wide losses reaching tens of billions of euros in 2024, it’s clear significant resources must be directed toward protecting businesses. Yet the question remains whether prevention can also drive growth. Could anti-fraud technology move from being a cost centre to becoming a catalyst for profitability?
Volodymyr Todurov, CEO at Frogo, believes it can. “Fraud management shouldn’t be seen as a cost centre any more,” he said. “It’s a profit enabler. Every threat we eliminate, every customer we protect, every second we save in the payout process – it all translates directly into growth.”
From protection to performance
Frogo was founded by iGaming professionals who saw that existing fraud systems focused too heavily on blocking activity rather than understanding it. The Cyprus-headquartered fraud prevention and risk management service provider’s mission is to protect operators without slowing them down, ensuring genuine players can transact freely while threats are detected early.
Frogo’s multi-layered AI framework continuously assesses and learns from behavioural patterns. It analyses transactions in real time, identifying deviations without disrupting normal player journeys. The result is a blend of automation and human strategy that reduces false positives while streamlining legitimate activity.
“The biggest issue I see is that too many systems punish good customers by mistake,” said Todurov. “A few failed deposits might look suspicious in isolation, but without context, you are treating a loyal VIP like a fraudster. That’s not just a bad experience – it’s lost revenue.”
Data in, insight out
At the heart of Frogo’s technology lies what Todurov calls “data enrichment with purpose”. The platform uses device fingerprinting, AI-powered scoring, and graph-based forensics to create an evolving profile of each user. By combining IP data, payment details, device signals and behavioural history, even without receiving any personalised data, Frogo produces a holistic picture that makes fraud easier to detect and genuine play easier to verify.
“The more data we have, the better our accuracy,” Todurov explained. “Fraud prevention is not just about detection; it is about understanding behaviour. With rich data, we can lower false positives dramatically. Without it, an operator might check 11 or 12 genuine customers to catch one fraudster. With the right data, we can find a balance between the client’s risk appetite and the accuracy of the risk model to achieve maximum performance/effectiveness.”
This precision brings commercial as well as operational benefits. Faster payouts and fewer false alarms translate into higher player trust and stronger retention. “When players see that their transactions are smooth and safe, loyalty goes up,” the CEO added. “That is how fraud prevention directly contributes to retention.”
Automation that pays for itself
As well as better detection, Frogo’s proposition is built on measurable financial return. iGaming operators that integrate the platform often see results within weeks, thanks to high automation and speed.
The system can be implemented in as little as two weeks, operating at sub-second response times. By automating tasks that previously required manual oversight, operators can redeploy their teams more efficiently. For instance, automated withdrawal scoring removes the need for financial managers to review every transaction individually, significantly reducing operational costs.
“When we talk about return on investment, we’re not talking about small percentages,” said Todurov. “It is often tenfold or twentyfold depending on transaction volume and integration level.”
Crucially, Frogo’s scoring data also supports wider business functions.
“If a returning player forgets their password and creates a new account, our system spots the connection and alerts the VIP team,” Todurov said. “Instead of blocking the player, the team reaches out to restore their existing account. That saves money on KYC and preserves the relationship.”
The human touch behind the AI
While Frogo’s platform is powered by AI, their valued clients’ security is not delegated to cyborgs. For Frogo, human expertise remains essential, with algorithms alone unable to define a client’s risk strategy. “AI is a tool, not a replacement,” Todurov added. “It can process millions of data points, but it cannot decide your strategy. Humans still design the policies, interpret results and understand business risk.”
Frogo’s team works alongside clients to tailor scoring models and adapt them over time. Frogo regularly analyses operator feedback to refine trigger accuracy and reduce false positives. “If your fraud policy triggers 800 times and you only block 10 actual fraudsters, that is 790 unhappy customers,” Todurov commented. “We analyse those outcomes and adjust the logic to improve conversion.”
This ongoing collaboration between people and technology ensures that anti-fraud systems evolve in lockstep with the threats they are designed to combat.
Future-proofing against AI fraud
Frogo is closely tracking trends such as the rapid evolution of fraud as generative AI becomes more accessible and widely used. The company notes that operators must now prepare for a new class of threats driven by automation, synthetic identities and the growing complexity of payment ecosystems. The expansion of crypto and digital wallets, combined with increasingly advanced fraud tactics, is redefining how risks must be managed.
Deepfake IDs, identity biometrics and AI-generated liveness checks are now capable of bypassing conventional verification methods. Todurov warned that passing KYC no longer guarantees trustworthiness. “AI can forge documents and fool liveness checks,” he said. “That means we need to rely more on behaviour than on appearance.”
Frogo’s system focuses on the unique patterns of activity that distinguish real users from synthetic ones. “Even if you can fake a face, you cannot fake a person’s digital rhythm,” said the CEO. “We look at velocity, timing, device switching and gameplay behaviour – things that reveal the human behind the data.”
The company’s adaptive approach also addresses the rapid expansion of alternative payment methods. As crypto and e-wallet transactions become mainstream, old rules around payment frequency or wallet count no longer apply. “Having multiple wallets is not suspicious anymore,” Todurov said. “Fraud detection must evolve from static thresholds to dynamic baselines that reflect real customer behaviour.”
Real-time resilience
Frogo’s latest innovation is a real-time alerting system that gives operators instant visibility into emerging threats. Whether detecting abnormal traffic, spikes in failed deposits or subtle shifts in betting activity, the feature ensures teams can respond immediately.
“Speed is crucial. Fraud does not wait for manual review. If something is wrong, we help teams act before it spreads.”
The platform also connects departments that historically worked in isolation. Anti-fraud, payments, affiliates and compliance teams can now share intelligence through unified alerts. “Fraud protection should not happen in silos,” Todurov added. “When teams act together, you are not just stopping fraud – you are improving overall performance.”
Redefining the cost centre
Todurov believes the operators that will thrive in the coming years are those that treat fraud prevention as a driver of performance, not merely a line of defence. “When a tool such as Frogo is fully utilised – both for fraud detection and for generating insights about potentially high-value clients – your return on investment increases proportionally to Frogo’s integration depth with your product.”
“Payouts are processed faster, customer satisfaction improves, and staff workloads are reduced.”
Frogo’s infrastructure runs on secure Amazon cloud architecture, compliant with GDPR and ISO 27001 standards, with PCI DSS certification scheduled for 2025. Each client environment is isolated, ensuring full data protection and regional compliance.
“Our mission is straightforward,” concluded Todurov. “We want to make fraud prevention invisible to the player and invaluable to the business. The smarter it becomes, the more iGaming operators can focus on what truly matters – growth.”
As fraud grows ever more sophisticated, iGaming operators face a critical turning point. Frogo Chief Executive Volodymyr Todurov explains how the company’s AI-powered fraud prevention platform is helping businesses move beyond loss limitation, transforming risk management into a driver of growth and long-term player trust.