An investigative reporter today released a statement on a prominent Australian Gambling news site says he was actually able to acquire sensitive player information from sites like William Hill, 888 and Full Tilt Poker.
AustralianGambling.com.au reported that representatives of Australian Gambling were able to obtain a sample of player details.
The site went on to further explain that he contacted these online gambling companies, asking them their opinion on the legalities of this player betrayal, but has received no comment.
According to Australian Gambling, a man named Ryan Clegg purchases personal player data from the employees of online casinos, online poker rooms and virtual bingo halls.
There was no confirmation as to whether management at any of these rooms was aware of the sale of customer info.
The details that Clegg reportedly purchases every couple of weeks, to every month or two includes the full names of online poker players, their home addresses, birthdays, and of course, their email addresses.
Along with the above information, purchasers are also treated to the gambling habits of the players included. Things like deposit amounts, and frequency are listed, along with win and loss amounts.
The information is intended for use within the gambling industry as a way to spread spam for the most part it would seem, however, the imagine the value to a professional identity thief, or even someone looking to exploit a gambling addiction.
According to the insider report Clegg buys his information from a once industry insider, Frank Best. The two, according to Clegg, once ran a media agency together.
Clegg also wasn’t afraid to name drop plenty. Among the websites he admits buying information from are:
Casino Tropez, Eurogrand, Casinojoy, 888, Intercasino, Spin Palace, 32 red, William Hill, Europa Casino, Vegas Red, PlatinumPlay and Roxy Palace.
Clegg went on to offer some sports better and poker websites mailing lists:
Ladbrokes, Betfair and ToteSport,
As a part of the sales pitch, Clegg offered, and sent a sample to Australian Gambling that included the personal data of 50 online gamblers.
The data was delivered in an excel spreadsheet and included the following information:
1. Name – This included both first and last name
2. Address – Both number and street
3. City
4. Country
5. Email address
6. Telephone number
7. Net loss – The amount the player had won or lost at the casino
8. Deposits – The total of the player’s real money deposits
Those interested in further information will find an actual email from Clegg sent to reps from Australian Gambling, wherein Clegg attempts to close the deal.
In the latest batch of casino data we have roughly 40k full records available which include Full name, address, email, telephone number, net loss and total deposits of each player.
All the data is European and comes from various online casinos like Casino Tropez, Eurogrand, Casinojoy, 888, Intercasino, Spin Palace, 32 red, Will Hill, Europa, Vegas Red, PlatinumPlay and Roxy Palace.
We once asked at 4Flush.com How much is your personal information worth? In our story regarding a ‘leak’ at Absolute Poker last year, that price was $500. It looks like that recession is really having it’s effect…
We now have a new answer. According to Clegg 1000 records is worth $100. 40,000 records are available at the bargain rate of $4000.
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From a more personal perspective here. The most shocking part of this post was that I wasn’t shocked. I’ve even been offered mailing lists myself via MSN. I didn’t give a moments pause.
I simply block the seller and move on. That’s how common an industry practice this is. That’s the really shocking part.
Nick didn’t receive credit card numbers, however, his informant didn’t deny the possibility of their purchase. Maybe those are saved for sale to an entirely different group of people.
Alright I don’t honestly believe that, or I wouldn’t keep giving my credit card numbers to these companies, but I am glad to have the opportunity to raise their awareness, and bring the security leaks into the main stream again. Hopefully Nick kicked off another major movement in the advancement of online poker security here.
I know lot of people who is doing this, this is really sick and wrong to the gaming industry.