The Esports Integrity Commission is helping the FBI in its investigation on CSGO match-fixing in North America.
The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) is assisting the FBI in an investigation on CS:GO match-fixing cases, Ian Smith revealed in an interview with slash32.
ESIC Integrity Commissioner, Ian Smith, has revealed ESIC is working with the FBI in assisting with match-fixing investigations. Smith has also revealed that the commission will provide more information on a different section of match-fixers in the next few days.
ESIC is working with the FBI in organized match-fixing investigations in North America
ESIC is has unraveled information about an organized match-fixing syndicate in the North American MDL. External betting syndicates were bribing professional players in North America to fix matches for money. ESIC is working with law enforcement and the FBI’s sports betting investigative unit, which Smith describes as inexperienced.
Last year, ESIC issued bans to thirty-seven CS:GO coaches for abusing a visual bug in Counter-Strike Global Offensive. The visual bug allowed team coaches to gain an unfair competitive advantage and receive information about the enemy’s movement. The bans ranged from a few days to lifetime bans depending on the severity of the exploit.
Information about match-fixing players coming soon
Besides the organized betting syndicates, there is also a case of individual players fixing matches to earn money. The commissioner expects more information about these players and their activities to come out in the next seven to ten days. ESIC has sufficient evidence in the form of Discord chat-log screenshots and player recordings.
Peripherals - An integrity vulnerability
In the interview, Smith talks about an Indian CS:GO player who was using cheats on LAN. The player was using a software cheat on his mouse to toggle wallhacks during ESL India qualifiers, one year after the infamous forsaken cheating scandal, says Smith. The ESIC commissioner highlights how esports professional players continue to use their own peripherals at LAN events, which can be easily tampered with for unfair advantages. Consequently, these peripherals raises integrity concerns for events where hundreds of thousands of dollars are on the line.
ESIC was established in 2016 to promote and facilitate competitive integrity in esports. The commission works on investigating and preventing all forms of cheating and match-fixing in esports titles.
Stay tuned to Esports.gg for the latest CS:GO news and updates.