Socure blocked 50K minor betting accounts during Super Bowl 60
Socure, a company that provides identity verification services for sports betting sites in real time, reported that it blocked more than 50,000 minors from opening betting accounts during Super Bowl 60 on 8 February. The data was first disclosed exclusively to USA TODAY. Reports show more than 2.5 million new accounts were created across sportsbooks, prediction markets, and online gaming platforms on game day, with the total climbing past 5.1 million over the week.
According to Socure’s fraud analysis team, account sign-ups spiked almost in step with the airing of six pre-game sportsbook adverts. FanDuel ran its “Last Call for Football” spot just before kick-off, while DraftKings and Fanatics aired commercials during the game. The timing suggests that advertising had a direct influence on the wave of new registrations.
What really happened?
During Super Bowl 60, attempts by underage users to access betting platforms spiked sharply. Socure’s age verification system blocked more than 50,000 minors from creating accounts. Internal reviews showed that efforts to bypass age checks, such as manipulating birth dates, rose to more than three times the usual rate.
Rivka Gewirtz Little, chief growth officer at Socure, described it as an overwhelming and unexpected surge in fraud attempts. She stated, “It was stunning. They were scaling the walls.”
Types of fraud detected during Super Bowl 60
During Super Bowl 60, several types of fraud attempts were detected across betting platforms. Synthetic fraud was one of the most common, where real, stolen, and fabricated details were combined to create new identities. Other cases involved the use of stolen personal information such as names, addresses, and phone numbers. Attempts to falsify government-issued identification documents also surfaced, however these changes are detected by contemporary verification techniques.
Another pattern was the reuse of the same facial photo from a government ID across multiple accounts, showing how digital cloning techniques were being used to bypass checks. These varied methods highlight the scale and persistence of fraud during high-profile events.
Little further cited that the internal audits showed that they stopped over 99 percent of fraudulent or illegal attempts to access betting platforms or financial services. However, in the hours leading up to and during Super Bowl 60, fraud activity surged. Specifically, there were three times (or more) the usual number of attempts where people tried to manipulate birth dates.
Pressure test of identity verification systems
Socure reported that it blocked most illegal attempts, relying on tools that cross-check user details against public records such as phone numbers, addresses, and National Insurance numbers. When information doesn’t match, the system flags the account and prevents access. In practice, it works like piecing together a puzzle—if the details don’t align, the account is stopped before it can be created.
Mike Cook, Socure’s head of fraud insights, said that new account registrations jumped almost instantly when the Super Bowl sportsbook adverts aired. He noted that sign-ups “surged alongside the six pre-game adverts,” with spikes happening virtually the moment the commercials went live. For instance, FanDuel’s “Last Call for Football” advert aired just before kick-off and prompted an immediate wave of new users. Similarly, DraftKings and Fanatics saw sign-up boosts when their adverts ran during the Patriots vs Seahawks game.
Open letter to National Football League
Ahead of Super Bowl 60, the authors of the study on underage gambling from Common Sense Media addressed an open letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, raising concerns about underage access to betting platforms, as reported by USA TODAY. James Steyer, the organisation’s founder, argued that if children as young as 11 are entering the betting pipeline, the league cannot remain neutral.
Steyer wrote, “Your league is one of the most powerful cultural institutions in the country, and the NFL has long positioned itself as a family-friendly institution. If boys are being funnelled into the betting pipeline as early as 11, you are not bystanders to this problem ‒ you are helping to architect this environment.”
Future of age verification in sports betting
Age verification in sports betting is about to reach a new stage where legislation and technology must cooperate. Even though technologies like device fingerprinting, document authentication, and facial recognition are getting better, they still cannot completely mitigate the threats. Stronger rules, clearer boundaries in advertising, and shared responsibility across leagues and betting platforms will be essential.
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