Multi-account creation biggest challenge in gig economy, Incognia fraud report finds

A new report from Incognia reveals that gig economy platforms are grappling with increasingly sophisticated fraud tactics, with multi-account creation and application tampering emerging as top concerns for fraud prevention teams.

According to the 2025 edition of Incognia’s State of Fraud in the Gig Economy, 73 percent of respondents identified stopping multi-account creation — a tactic that enables repeat abuse under new identities — as their highest priority.

“Multi-accounting and ban evasion aren’t just side issues, they’re now central to how large-scale abuse operates,” said André Ferraz, co-founder and CEO of Incognia. “From stacking promotions to exploiting refunds or running coordinated scams, the common thread is the ability to create and recycle accounts without detection.”

The report also highlights growing concern around application tampering, with nearly 75 percent of respondents citing it as a major threat. This category includes app cloning, code injection and device farming — techniques that allow fraudsters to pretend to be legitimate users and bypass detection systems.

While 86 percent of platforms now use some form of device ID to combat fraud, only 48 percent employ tamper detection and 52 percent use location intelligence. This gap suggests that many companies may be relying on outdated or incomplete solutions, leaving them vulnerable to sophisticated attacks.

Incognia’s flagship product, Incognia ID, aims to address these shortcomings by combining device intelligence with location behavior to improve fraud detection accuracy. The company reports a 99.999999 percent identification accuracy and an average sixfold return on investment for its clients, which include Grubhub and Delivery Hero.

Budget constraints remain a challenge for some teams, with nearly 20 percent of respondents reporting reduced funding or uncertainty about future budgets. However, 81 percent said their fraud budgets will either increase or remain steady, indicating that platforms are beginning to recognize fraud prevention as a strategic investment.

“The reality is – fraud prevention is no longer just about stopping theft, it’s about protecting the integrity of the platform and brand,” said Ferraz.

Incognia’s report emphasizes the need for gig platforms to evolve their defenses in step with increasingly agile fraud tactics. The report draws on a nationwide survey of fraud professionals across food delivery, ride-hailing, and other gig platforms.

Earlier this year, the Gig Economy Edition of Incognia’s annual Frontline Report, which ranks the biggest fraud challenges faced by global food delivery and ride-hailing companies in 2024, found that fake accounts were employed in 57 percent of driver-side fraud cases, while refund and promotion abuse were tied as the top consumer-side fraud with 48 percent.

The full Incognia “The State of Fraud in the Gig Economy” report can be accessed here.

Article Topics

behavioral analysis  |  device fingerprinting  |  fraud prevention  |  Incognia  |  location authentication