eCogra Celebrates Its Tenth Annivesary

It's not just Facebook marking their tenth year of operation this week, as eCogra, the independent body that mediates between players and online gambling sites has also reached this milestone. In presenting  her report for 2013, Tex Rees the eCogra director with responsibility for overseeing responsible gambling and disputes, revealed some interesting statistics that show how the organisation has grown along with the online gambling business.

With some 220 accredited operators, among them the biggest, longest established and most prestigious sites, eCogra has seen some 7,169 cases that needed reviewing, with 5,394 being deemed relevant for fuller investigation. The number of cases per year has grown in line with the whole online gambling business, with just 251 during the whole of 2003, rising to 943 in 2013. In nearly half of these complaints, eCOGRA resolved the issues in the players' favour, although in 2013, that figure was 36% in the players favour.

Explaining this lower than average rate, Rees said, "What we are seeing now are an increasing number of bogus complaints from fraudulent players, who have become more sophisticated in their knowledge and tactics in trying to squeeze bonus and other advantages which were not due from operators," adding "However, the operators have also become more savvy in the use of security and risk protection measures and have the advantage of new technologies which enable them to identify and counter fraudsters in most cases. 

"The incidence of fraudulent player syndicates, ID and credit card fraud has increased, and with it the need for both operators and ourselves to be constantly on the alert." 

One figure that the industry should be proud of is the very low customer complaint rate with an average of just 3.18 per operator, per year. This can be partly due to the high standards expected of the operators accredited to eCogra, with Rees stating that "Our monitored standards and other eCOGRA Generally Accepted Practices are stringent and demand consistent adherence and commitment from operators," she said. "Clearly that continues to pay off when it comes to player safety." 

About eCogra

With the aim of setting and improving the standards for player safety at online gambling sites, eCogra runs a free mediation service which is independent of the 220 operators that have adopted the requirements needed. Based in London, eCogra staff are recruited from the Big 4 auditing companies, or are responsible gambling specialists and information systems professionals.