What is Bonus Abuse and Why Avoid It

What is Bonus Abuse?

People have tried to beat “the house” since the beginning – you’ve probably heard stories of players counting cards, tampering with roulette tables, or using magnets and special coins to trick slot machines. The same occurs online, where casinos face an ongoing battle against people or groups looking for quick profits. We won’t go into money laundering or how regulators work to prevent illegal funding, but verification procedures are part of this effort. Abuse is a similar issue, where a small number of players ruin things for everyone else.

• Involves repeated attempts to free up money without risk to the player
• Forces online casinos to introduce strict rules that limit enjoyment
• Often done by people who know exactly how to exploit the system

The main idea of bonus abuse is simple. When an online casino gives members free money, spins or other no deposit bonuses, it’s intended to give them more value. However, abusers see this as a way to secure income without caring about the games or risks. Any bonus can be abused, except cashback – that’s why each reward you accept comes with specific terms, apart from perks like cashback.

What Counts as Abuse?

We’ll explore different types of abuse in the next sections, but let’s make one thing clear first: if you register at an online casino to play, take some risks, and hope for a win, you have nothing to worry about. Modern casinos use high-tech systems and algorithms that monitor player actions to detect abuse early. If you’re here to play, you can freely explore the games. If you’re trying to misuse the casino’s generous policies for personal gain, you’ll be caught – in 99% of cases, at least. Read on for the basic rules in place to prevent abuse.

Creating Multiple Player Accounts

As mentioned, certain terms might seem unnecessary, but they’re in place to stop abusers from making money. Experienced players know it’s important to have only one account per casino – opening multiple accounts could lead to losing any funds you deposit, as casinos reserve the right to close duplicate accounts and confiscate balances. They usually won’t do this if it’s a genuine mistake and the player simply forgot about an old account. Abusers, however, open multiple accounts under fake names just to claim the welcome offer as many times as possible.

Activating the Same Bonus Multiple Times

We’re sure none of our readers would make this mistake, unlike abusers who try to exploit bonuses intentionally. However, you might forget an old account, create a new one, and manage to deposit and activate a welcome package before the casino notices the issue. In such cases, one of two things will happen: either you keep the new account, and the old one is deleted, or you lose the welcome package and any related winnings, with your deposit refunded while support helps you access the old account. It’s a hassle, but these are universal rules across the web. Abusers deliberately try to activate multiple offers to increase their income.

Ignoring Maximum Bet Rules

We always highlights the maximum allowed bet in our reviews for a reason. Imagine completing the full playthrough, having a significant amount, only to lose it all because your bets were too high. Fortunately, this rarely happens today due to automatic limits on accounts – generally, you’re not allowed to bet more than $5 per spin until the playthrough for the active bonus is met. Bonus abusers, however, attempt to bypass this central rule to secure quick payouts, often placing bets over $100 per round.

Bonus Hunting

While the three rules above are typically monitored and enforced automatically, bonus hunting is a more significant issue. Larger operators even maintain independent teams dedicated to finding, confirming, and stopping bonus hunters. These abusers sign up, verify their accounts, and make deposits just to activate the welcome package, only to leave as soon as the funds are released and withdrawn. The challenge is that it’s hard to know who is a bonus hunter and who is a genuine player beforehand unless the person uses a fake ID or has been caught bonus hunting before.

What Happens When You Abuse Bonuses?

First of all, abuse rarely results in profits – to make bonus hunting profitable, you’d have to treat it like a job, spending hours on your computer each week. Also, it’s usually not significant sums. Most abusers operate from regions where $500–$1,000 monthly is a reasonable gain. We mentioned that 99% of attempts are stopped, and here’s what happens in those cases:

• Deposits and active bonuses are confiscated
• All winnings are also confiscated
• The account is closed, and the player is banned
• The abuser’s info is shared within internal networks
• Future attempts to play will be blocked

How Common is Bonus Abuse?

Bonus abuse was a much larger issue from the early 2000s through the 2010s until new technology and algorithms were introduced, alongside stricter regulations from international and local authorities. At that time, there were “tricks” that almost guaranteed profits without breaking any rules. Thanks to the high payout rates of modern video slots and the generous nature of offers, players could cash out one in every three welcome packages, covering losses from the other two and coming out ahead.

Today, abuse is almost completely eliminated from online casinos. Dishonest players have largely shifted to poker, using stolen bank cards to make deposits, “losing” money to partners and cashing out to a separate legal account. We also expect artificial intelligence and new technology to fully prevent abuse and money laundering through gambling in the next decade.

How Do Casinos Prevent Bonus Abuse?

As mentioned earlier, casinos have implemented a range of rules and conditions to counter bonus abuse while also using other methods to limit players from avoiding the standard risks of gambling. The losses from abuse still amount to millions per year, but this is minimal compared to the expenses faced by online companies in the past. Let’s take a closer look at the systems currently in place.

IP Address Tracking

IP addresses are like virtual home addresses and are used to track player locations – not only by country but also to check if the IP address has been linked to past abuse. If you happen to use a network at a friend’s or colleague’s who has previously abused offers, you could be banned. Organized bonus abusers often use the same IP address, which is why casinos enforce a rule allowing only one account per household. This means you can’t register at an online casino if someone in your household is already a member.

Exclusion of High-Risk Countries

We mentioned that abuse often comes from Eastern Europe, as well as Africa, Asia, and South America. This is why you’ll often find long lists of excluded countries in the terms of any online casino, including Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and others known for organized abuse. Of course, abusers from excluded countries try to bypass restrictions with VPNs, but modern technology can still detect the location of a device.

Limiting Payment Methods

Various payment methods, including bank cards, certain e-wallets, and especially cryptocurrencies, have been used for abuse. This is why some online casinos limit these options in certain countries. For example, many German casinos have restricted VISA/MasterCard use because cardholders frequently request chargebacks after losing money – they simply call their bank and report the card stolen, getting a full refund at the casino’s expense.

How to Avoid Abuse

As we’ve mentioned, there’s no need to worry as long as you’re not intentionally abusing casino offers. Register, deposit, activate the offer, and enjoy the games, hoping for good winnings. If you’d like to avoid any suspicion over your play patterns, here are a few tips:

• Read the terms carefully – our experts cover these details in their reviews
• Contact customer support if anything seems unclear to avoid future issues
• Don’t rely on the system ignoring potential rule violations – this can lead to bans
• Note and follow the stated playthrough requirement – don’t try to bypass these rules
• Remember the maximum bet limit – betting higher can result in confiscated funds

Is Abuse Worth It?

Sure, in the past, people could profit from bonus abuse. But now, not only is it boring and time-consuming, it also creates future issues since all online actions are stored and tracked. Today, it’s definitely not worth trying to abuse offers unless you’re ready to risk everything for a few thousand dollars. There are far better ways to earn this kind of money legally.