Game theory
Game theory is a mathematic framework for analyzing situations where the outcome depends on the actions of multiple descision-makers(players). It is often related to psychology and used by services such as crowdfunding services to incentivise or disencentivise certain behavior. Game theory is usually used by the service to surmise grifting and Gaming Attacks.
Gaming Attacks
A Gaming Attack is an attack that manipulates a services rules and/or incentives in a way that undermines the will of the community, the platforms intended use, or the platforms fairness.
Fake contributions
This attack involves users making fake pledges to inflate the apparent popularity or funding level of a project. This can create a false sense of momentum, attracting genuine backers who believe the project is more successful than it actually is. This can lead to mistrust of legitimate projects and potential failure.
Phantom projects
A phantom project is one created by a scammer often combined with fake contributions to gain real backing before the project is simply taken down after the funding is recieved. This causes loss of funds for backers, damage to the platform's credibility and distrust of new or emerging projects.
Sybil attacks
A sybil attack is when a single user creates multiple fake identities to manipulate the platform this is often used to make fake contributions or create the illusion of widespread support. This can distorts the true level of interest and support for projects, undermining the platform's trustworthiness.
Collusion
In the context of an attack collusion is a unique form of trolling where a group of users collaborates to surmise community interests by manipulating the outcomes of campaigns.
Reward manipulation
A reward manipulation attack exploits the reward system by pledging at levels that offer disproportionate rewards compared to their contribution. They might then cancel their pledges at the last moment or use chargebacks to receive the rewards without proper payment.
Bot attacks
A bot attack is when automated bots are used to manipulate campaign statistics, such as artificially inflating the number of backers, views, or shares similar to sybil attacks and fake contributions.
Strategic pledging and withdrawal
This is when users make large pledges to help a campaign reach its goal, only to withdraw their pledges just before the deadline, causing the campaign to fail.
Mitigation tactics
- Anti-fraud tools to detect fake projects or pledges
- User reporting and feedback to report suspicious behavior such as the abrupt deletion of projects
- Hold funds in Escrow until project milestones are met
- The use of Quadratic Funding and other unique forms of capitol allocation can help with lots of issues