The 2026 World Cup drew record sportsbook activity across 104 matches and five weeks of play. It also drew a surge in fraud, according to a new benchmarking report from fraud prevention platform SEON.
George Pace, SEON’s lead product marketing manager for betting and gaming, told Gambling Insider the tournament created ideal conditions for fraudsters. Bigger promotions and bigger incentives, he said, meant fraudsters saw the World Cup as their own kind of World Cup.
SEON grouped the U.S. with the rest of North America in its analysis. Even so, the findings carry a clear warning for American sportsbooks heading into NFL season, which kicks off Sept. 9.
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The Key Numbers from SEON’s Report
The table below summarizes the report’s headline findings.
| Metric | World Cup Finding |
| Dormant account activity (global) | 83% increase in activity from accounts verified well before the tournament |
| Dormant account activity (Latin America) | 118% increase in fraudulent transactions tied to reactivated accounts |
| Average blocked fraudulent withdrawal | Rose from $202 before the tournament to $436 during it |
| Stolen-credential logins (Europe, match days) | 115% increase during traffic spikes |
| Overall fraud block rate | Fell 16%, largely due to operators easing friction to avoid losing customers |
Source: SEON 2026 World Cup Benchmarking Report.
SEON’s data reflects fraud that operators successfully blocked, not money actually lost. The company’s platform draws on roughly 1,100 proprietary signals, including device data, login history, and behavioral patterns, to flag suspicious activity.
Why Dormant Accounts Became the Preferred Target
Fraudsters increasingly favored old, dormant accounts over freshly created ones. Many operators treat an account that already passed identity verification months earlier as trusted, skipping extra checks when it suddenly becomes active again.
That trust gap matters because dormant accounts often carry saved payment details. Stolen, purchased, or inherited accounts let fraudsters skip verification entirely and go straight for retention bonuses, which Pace said frequently pay out more than standard welcome offers.
Retention bonuses reward returning players with perks like daily login incentives, making them an attractive target once a dormant account gets reactivated under a fraudster’s control.
Why Operators Loosened Their Defenses
The report found fraud block rates fell 16% during the tournament, even as fraud attempts rose. That drop was not necessarily a defensive failure.
Operators appear to have deliberately eased friction during the World Cup to avoid rejecting genuine fans who might otherwise switch to a competitor. Pace described this as a calculated trade-off, watching riskier accounts closely rather than blocking them outright, then cutting them off only once suspicious activity crossed a threshold.
That approach, sometimes called dynamic friction, lets an account continue placing bets while its risk score climbs, with a block typically arriving right before a suspicious withdrawal attempt.
Could NFL Season Bring the Same Problems?
Cybersecurity researcher Matthew Wein, who publishes the Secure Stakes newsletter, told Gambling Insider that fraud prevention and fraud tactics remain locked in a constant back-and-forth. He warned that artificial intelligence tools let attackers scale their efforts across far more victims without much added cost.
Wein said operators easing verification checks for a major event, such as the start of college or NFL football season, could create the same opening fraudsters exploited during the World Cup.
He also tied the issue to responsible gambling practices more broadly, arguing bettors should understand the risks tied to dormant accounts, reused passwords, and the personal data they share when signing up.
What This Means for US Sports Bettors
Dormant accounts carrying saved card or banking details are a real target, not just an operator problem. If you have an old sportsbook account you no longer use, either close it or make sure its password is unique and its saved payment methods are current.
Reused passwords across multiple betting or payment sites make it easier for stolen credentials from one breach to unlock accounts elsewhere. A password manager and two-factor authentication meaningfully cut that risk.
Big events like the NFL season opener or the Super Bowl tend to bring aggressive promotions and, per SEON’s findings, more fraud activity alongside them. Reviewing your account activity and login history after major betting weekends is a simple habit worth building.
FAQs
What did SEON's World Cup fraud report find?
SEON found an 83% global increase in fraudulent activity from previously dormant sportsbook accounts during the 2026 World Cup. Average blocked fraudulent withdrawals rose from $202 to $436, and stolen-credential logins jumped 115% in Europe during match-day traffic spikes.
Why are dormant sportsbook accounts a fraud target?
Operators often treat accounts that passed identity verification months earlier as already trusted, so reactivating a dormant account can skip extra scrutiny. Fraudsters buy, steal, or inherit these accounts specifically to claim retention bonuses, which often pay more than standard welcome offers.
Could NFL season bring similar fraud problems?
Cybersecurity researcher Matthew Wein said operators easing verification checks to boost sign-ups for major events, potentially including NFL or college football season, could open the same gaps fraudsters exploited during the World Cup. He also noted AI tools are making attacks easier to scale.
