28 April 2022

What is multi-accounting

Blog » What is multi-accounting

To work online, users need accounts. At the same time, some users create dozens or hundreds of accounts for their own purposes. In this article we’re going to find out what multi-accounting is, who needs it, is it legal and of course — how to avoid bans for multi-accounting.

What is multi-accounting ❓

Multi-accounting is when a user works in more than one account on one website or service.

For example, in the case of social networks, one user can create several accounts to run ads from them. Or in case of betting, from different accounts users can collect welcome bonuses or circumvent the ban of the main account for violations of the rules of the service.

What multi-accounting is used for

It depends on the specific area of activity. Most often, multi-accounting is used for the following purposes:

🔺Circumvention of bans

If some user’s account was blocked for violating the platform’s rules, he can try to circumvent restrictions by creating new accounts.

🔺Increasing income

For example, since affiliate marketers most often work with dozens of advertisers and affiliate networks at once, they need as many accounts as possible to run ads. Also, additional accounts will help to insure themselves in case the main account gets blocked.

🔺Working with accounts from different countries

This is typically needed to run ads on social networks or search engines. For example, if an agency works with clients from different countries, they may need accounts from those countries to run ads. In addition, some users create foreign accounts to reduce the amount of tax paid on the launch of advertising: different countries have different taxes.

🔺Bonus hunting

When registering new accounts, some services give a welcome bonus. For example, this frequently happens in betting and gambling. Some users create additional accounts to receive these bonuses.

Where multi-accounting is used

Multi-accounting is most commonly used when dealing with:

🔺Crypto platforms and crypto exchanges

Multi-accounting is frequently used during the opening of new token sales on various platforms. For example, on the Coinlist platform💰.

The point is that at such initial sales, the tokens are limited and sold at a starting prices. If the demand for any token is higher than the supply, the buyer’s choice can be made at random. Accordingly, the more accounts users have, the higher the chances of getting tokens.

Other users use multi-accounting to maintain their anonymity and handle multiple cryptocurrencies simultaneously. For example, popular centralized crypto-exchanges ask users for their real passport data when registering a wallet.

Moreover, in April 2022, the popular cryptocurrency exchange Binance introduced a restriction for Russian users: with the amount of assets over €10,000, users can only withdraw funds, but cannot sell or trade cryptocurrency. Besides, according to Reuters, the exchange passed the data to the Russian state authorities’ about the owners of the wallets. The crypto exchange denies it, but it will be clarified in court.

To protect personal data and bypass restrictions, users create accounts in other people’s names.

🔺Bookmaker offices

Multi-accounting is needed to:

Repeat receipt of welcome bonuses.
Surebets. Surebets are opposite bets in bookmakers’ offices on the same event. As a rule, surebets are found in different bookmakers’ offices, however, sometimes they can be found in one office.
Continuing to work with a particular bookmaker’s office. For example, in the case of blocking the original account or reducing the odds on them due to violations of some rules.

🔺Parsing

Parsing is the automated collection of data on the web. You can use parsers to collect website contacts, prices, content, user data, etc.

However, the laws of each country regulate the collection of such information in their own way. For example, in Russia, it is forbidden by law to collect users’ personal data without their consent. Because of this, security systems of the websites may block the work of parsers. To prevent the same user from parsing again, security algorithms may remember the IP address and data of his device, in order to block him in the future.

By creating accounts with different data, it will be possible to continue parsing information despite the restrictions.

🔺To work in social networks

Multi-accounting is needed to:

Run ads from multiple accounts at once. For example, for marketers and affiliates.
Publish reviews or write comments on behalf of different users. For example, to improve online reputation or attract attention to a certain topic.
Bypass account blocking. Social networks closely analyze their users and fight against multi-accounting. This is due to the fact that if a person has multiple accounts, it is unclear for what purposes. For example, a person may try to run an illegal advertisement or influence the users’ opinions by posting positive reviews about a product that really doesn’t correspond to these qualities. Some social networks may block the entire chain of accounts at once, while others analyze the user more carefully and block him in case of violations.

What penalties apply for multi-accounting 🙅‍♀️

The strictest measure is the blocking of the account without the possibility of access or withdrawal. Such measures can be applied, for example, by bookmaker’s offices against surebeters or social networks, in case of running illegal advertising.

Softer measures: the service can ask for additional data, temporarily freeze the account, reduce the odds in case of bookmakers, etc. Specific measures depend on the platform on which the violations were committed.

How websites understand that the user has multiple accounts

Conventionally, all user evaluation criteria can be divided into two groups: general and individual.

◾️General

These criteria are used by all anti-fraud systems. They include:

Contacts and personal information of the user: name, date of birth, phone number, mail, etc.;
Fingerprint — a set of anonymized data about your device, connection, and browser. For example, browser type and version, operating system, amount of RAM, number of ports, etc. The combination of such data forms a unique digital fingerprint, which anti-fraud systems attach to each user. Each anti-fraud system collects a different amount of data: for obvious reasons, none of the services publishes it;
Users’ IP addresses. When you create an account, anti-fraud systems see where the account is coming from. If some other user has the same IP, the system may think, that it has the same owner;
Cookie data. For example, what sites and resources the user visits;
The means of payment. For example, the coincidence of the card or wallet data can automatically link the accounts.

◾️Individual

These are criteria that not all anti-fraud systems can use.

For example:

Memorizing the user’s behavioral pattern. For example, in bookmaker’s betting, this may be a characteristic bet for a particular person.
Spontaneous user checks. For example, video calls where you can see if the user is logged into the account, or a sudden request to send selfies in a certain pose or angle.

How to disguise multi-accounting

Multi-accounting definitely requires:

✅Proxy

When you visit some website, it detects your IP address. If it’s the same for some accounts, the sites’ security systems will understand that the accounts are created by the same person. Anti-fraud systems will automatically link the accounts and may block them further.

You can use proxies to change your IP address to impersonate users from different countries. If you’re having trouble with choosing proxies, read our articles:

✅Anti-Detect Browser

Since IP spoofing is used even by ordinary users, anti-fraud systems have long been analyzing users by additional criteria. An anti-detect browser is a program that changes your actual digital fingerprint, so that you can impersonate another user. Moreover, it allows you to work with different accounts from the same device and from the same browser window.

✅Credentials for a new user

For each account you will need to choose a name, contact information and payment card (if required).

Moreover, since some anti-fraud systems have enhanced user verification methods such as surprise photo requests and video calls, you should be very careful when selecting data for registering new accounts.

How Dolphin{anty} can help🐬

Dolphin{anty} is an anti-detect browser that is suitable for multi-accounting. The browser can change more than 20 of your browser and device data, including Canvas, WebGL, WebRTC, language, time zone, and more. This makes Dolphin{anty} suitable for parsing, betting, social networking, affiliate marketing and crypto exchanges.

If you have not used the anti-detect browser before, you have the opportunity to test it in a 4-day free period and continue on the free plan with a limit of 10 browser profiles.