Unico highlights importance of defense amid World Cup iGaming surge

The FIFA World Cup is the largest sports tournament in the world, and the 2026 edition will drive a 50 percent surge in the number of online gambling users, according to projections from Unico.

The huge increase comes just as businesses throughout Latin America are facing an increase in both the volume and sophistication of fraud attacks. Unico has observed incidents of sophisticated, AI-driven fraud increase in the market by as much as 1,000 percent in 2025, and an 84 percent spike in identity theft since 2024.

The company recently warned that sophisticated fraud attack enabled by AI more generally will increase between 150 percent and 550 percent this year.

Globally, the approach of the World Cup is expected to coincide with a 300 percent increase in phishing attacks and identity theft attempts, many carried out with AI to create what Unico calls “hyper-realistic scams.”

“The World Cup presents a strategic growth opportunity for the iGaming sector in Mexico, but it also opens a window for companies to adopt advanced technology to protect their ecosystems, strengthen their verification processes, and optimize the user experience,” explains Fernando Paulín, GM of Unico Mexico.

Unico figures show 28 percent of iGaming fraud occurs during user onboarding, a fraught process for businesses since increased friction can lead to higher abandonment, which Paulín says can be as high as 81 percent. Bonus abuse is another consequence of inadequate identity verification during user onboarding, and 78 percent of operators tell Unico such schemes directly impact their profit margin. Unchecked, bonus abuse can swallow up to 15 percent of the industry’s annual revenue, according to Unico.

The good news is that robust biometric identity verification can increase valid registrations by 20 percent, accelerate user journeys by 20 percent, and reduce bonus abuse by 70 percent.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be split between Mexico, Canada and the United States, where Unico just opened new global headquarters.

Article Topics

AI fraud  |  fraud prevention  |  gambling  |  generative AI  |  identity theft  |  Unico  |  World Cup