Fraud on BetFair?

[jw2082]

Hi a friend of mine recently had his betfair account used by an unknown person. His account was totally emptied via one bet that was won in full by another player. Bet fair are refusing to help as the person that did the bet logged in first time meaning they knew the password.

 

This cannot be right that there must be a security fault somewhere, the guy in question dose not use this password for anything else and is not using a wireless network. Also the bet itself was very unlike anything he normally would do ( he is a bookie by trade so he knows his stuff i.e. takes very little risk).

Anyone in the know about where he stands on this matter ?

[buzby]

Difficult - just as Chip & PIN has shifted the proof of use to consumers, BF rely on this in a similar manner. They will, however be able to trace the IP address of the user who emptied the account, I suggest he contacs BF and ask them for this and the date/time of access.

[jw2082]

yes this has been done, it was a user in london however they say that that user was a legit player.

[russellhq]

Should he not contact the police in this case?

[Isiris]

I can comment on this because I am a heavy Betfair user and even own a horse with them

 

If your "friend" goes to My Account and My Security, it will show you all the IP address used (10 I believe) to log into your account.

 

The fact that the bet was placed and won wholy by another individual is irrelevant. What were the odds that the bet was matched at (while some users would not think this relevant, believe me it is.) What was the market where the bet was placed.

 

HOW did someone manage to log into his account ??

 

Section 4 of the T&Cs are as follows

 

You agree to keep your username, password and/or TAN strictly confidential and you are responsible for any misuse of your password and/or TAN. Provided that we have been correctly supplied with the account information requested, we are entitled to assume that orders and payments are made by you. You should change your password on a regular basis and never disclose it to any third party. Passwords should contain a mixture of upper and lower case letterS and numbers and/or symbols. Passwords are case sensitive and we recommend the use of passwords that combine a combination of non obvious letters and numbers in different cases. This will help to prevent the risk of unauthorised use of your account. You undertake to protect your username and password in the same way as you would in respect of your bank cards and any failure to do so shall be at your sole risk and expense.

 

How often does your friend change his password (betfair keep logs of these occasions).

 

The password now has to be both digits and letters.

 

I am not going to jump on the bandwagon just yet until the picture is filled in a little more

[SOD'EM]

It's quite funny that Betfarce have just had they're security licence revoked.

[jack jackson]

Hi a friend of mine recently had his betfair account used by an unknown person. His account was totally emptied via one bet that was won in full by another player. Bet fair are refusing to help as the person that did the bet logged in first time meaning they knew the password.

 

This cannot be right that there must be a security fault somewhere, the guy in question dose not use this password for anything else and is not using a wireless network. Also the bet itself was very unlike anything he normally would do ( he is a bookie by trade so he knows his stuff i.e. takes very little risk).

Anyone in the know about where he stands on this matter ?

2 of us have just been cleaned out for over 10000 ten thousand euro.A bet placed on ireland v georgia on 6 sept 2008. somehow they had passwords log in details and cedit card incl cv2 numbers.the money taken from credit cards will be refunded but the ballance of over 3000 that was in our betfair account is gone .Betfair refuse to refund even thouge they concede in an email that unauthorised was gained to both our accounts.Is this part of a wider [problem].DONT LEAVE MONEY IN BETFAIR ACCOUNTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SOD'EM]

I use Avast anti virus and every time I opened Betfair Poker, It told me not to trust the site as they have had they're security license revoked. It has been sorted now but that's not the point. Clearly they had a security problem in the first place to have had they're license revoked, and if that is the case you should be able to gain some sort of compensation.

 

Unfortunately, companies like Betfarce.com think they are like the Government. Do what ever they want with the publics personal information and get away with it. You are talking about a lot of money. There are probably thousands of Betfix customers who have lost smaller amounts in similar ways but say nothing because it is only a small amount.

 

If I was you, I would use a free 30mins-1hour consultation with a solicitor. Maybe just a solicitors letter would let them know you mean business and they may do something for you. It's worth a try for the amount of money you are talking about. I am sure these companies have to have some sort of Public Liability Insurance.

[Betfair Exposed]

Yes, Betfair can do as it pleases with your money and your credit card company cannot do anything to help you. This is the response I got back from VISA: “Because gambling transactions give credits without an actual charge first, we do not have a debit on the VISA to chargeback. As you don’t have any proof from the merchant that you were to receive a credit, we are unable to initiate a dispute.”

 

Truth Exposed Blog: Betfair fraud scams and/or system problems

Edited January 2, 2009 by Betfair Exposed

[Ranger09]

I have had a similar experience with Betfair. Someone hacked into my account in Nov 2008 and tried to withdraw my funds via a credit card that THEY had added to my account. This attempt failed but they proceeded to ' lose ' almost £1k of my funds ( leaving me with £44) ..why ? who knows !

Betfair say I am liable. I cannot prove that I did not log on that day or that I did not give my password to an associate . However, I can prove that the credit card is NOT mine. To my amazement Betfair have stated that they cannot give me the details of the credit card on MY account. I advised the police and made a statement . Betfair said I would need to get the police to submit a data request form before they provided the card information. The police duly provided this form ( twice as Betfair lost the 1st one). After 2 weeks the police chased for a response from Betfair to be told that Betfair would now require a Court Production Order ( a court warrant effectively ) KNOWING that no police force would be able to provide one as court judges will not grant such warrants unless the fraud amount is significant ( tens of thousands in reality). So, while Betfair have remained within the law ( just ) they are effectively causing police obstruction.

Then of course, independent adjudicators like IBAS will not help if there is a police investigation. This [problem] is almost fullproof as most police forces will say " this is not a police matter " or words to that effect and even when the police force smells a rat ( e.g. a crime has been committed ) they are asked to provide a document that they simply cannot and as I have said above, all the independent arbitrators are frightened off by the police investigation. There is lots more to this particualr story if anyone is interested but my advice is not to deal with Betfair and if you must DO NOT LEAVE FUNDS on your account. My belief is that many punters have experienced this problem but either the police or others say " tough "

and no one is able to help EVEN when it is clear that a criminal offence has occurred. It MAY be that current or ex Betfair employees are conducting this [problem] or they may be in cohoots with very able criminals.

[Isiris]

Hmm

But surely you as the account holder can make a subject access request and be told the credit card number ?

[andydd]

Hmm

But surely you as the account holder can make a subject access request and be told the credit card number ?

 

This kinda links to the recent posts about Paypal I have made where I point out the perils of leaving money in these accounts and /or having a card/bank account linked permanently.

 

Wheres most banks have quite a complicated/secure procedure to access your money, sites like Paypal, betting sites etc generally just need one password, once you are in you may have access to quite large amounts of money, plus unlike banks you appear to have very little comeback.

 

Passwords can easily by hacked by simply watching you login/using keylogging software, etc. My bank also uses the drop down box method which adds a higher level of security.

 

Andy

[jollyolly]

I have just won 1700 dollars on Betfair poker playing the 3/6 dollar satkes, however Betfair seems to have wiped my betting history and is telling me that I have placed no bets in the last 90 days. They are trying to tell me that I have been playing for play money, which is ridiculous as they do not even offer a 3/6 dollar play money table. Also I had definitely lost money, as I made a second deposit of 150 pounds after losing my first 50 and the software telling me that I needed to deposit more cash.

 

Does anyone have any advice on the matter?? I can prove my deposits, but without my betting history, am I screwed??

[Conniff]

Betfair Ltd (BETFA43417)

Waterfront, Hammersmith Embankment

Winslow Road

London, London, W6 9HP

 

It's moved to Gib now:

 

TSE (Gibraltar) LP is licensed by the Gibraltar Licensing Authority (GLA) and regulated by the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority (GRA) under the Gambling Act 2005. RGL No.049. Address: Units 2/4 and 2/5 Waterport Place, Gibraltar.

Edited July 12, 2011 by Conniff

[TonyWrightWrightWright]

A friend has recently had £800 removed (lost) from his account and Betfair wont help him and he's 80 years old. Is there an action group being formed to tackle this attitude of Betfairs?

[gampas]

If you can send the details to Sportsbook review and use their Contact Us service, they can take it up on your behalf.

[TonyWrightWrightWright]

Thank you.

So sorry to appear dense. I assume 'Sportsbook Review' is sportsbookreview . com . If not please let me know. Much appreciated

[gampas]

Yes it is. The anti-spam filter on here prevented me putting up the URL until I had posted 8 times, and I did not have 7 other things to say!