Bwin account hacked, Bwin keeping my money, any advice?

[superwomble]

Morning all, I wonder if anyone has any advice on this please?

My Bwin account was hacked. The hacker changed all my account details, including the password and email address. I received no email saying that my email had been changed, which I thought was standard practice.

The hacker then used PayPal to deposit £150 into my account twice. For some reason Bwin had my PayPal account linked as a pre-authorised account so the hacker didn't need to know my PayPal password. Obviously he was then unable to withdraw it to his own account so he just gambled it on the site and lost it all.

Bwin are refusing to refund the £300 or the £50 that was already in the account because they say it is my responsibility to ensure my account is not hacked and because the money was lost on the site.

They have therefore profited to the tune of £350 because of the hacker's illegal activities. The hacker is neither in profit or at a loss, while I am £350 down. They don't appear to think that this is unfair! They also won't answer my repeated questions about why I didn't receive any notification of the email or password being changed.

Any ideas please?

Thanks.

[Longines]

Have you contacted complaints@bwin.com? That would appear to be the first place to start before moving on to eCOGRA if not satisfied.

https://help.bwin.com/en/general-information/legal-matters/general-terms-and-conditions#Notices

https://secure.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PublicRegister/Search/Detail/39011

http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/for-the-public/Your-rights/Complain-to-a-gambling-business.aspx

[superwomble]

Thanks, I haven't yet, have just been arguing with customer services. Will try that address now though.

[Jamier-Host]

I don't really know how the Paypal link works, but bookies tend to prefer using them as payment providers (despite much higher fees) as there are zero chargebacks from them. i.e They have no obligation to return the funds, whereas with a bank card it's treated as a "cardholder not present" transaction and really hard to defend if the customer turns round and says it wasn't them.

In reality they probably don't need to help you out, but for the sake of £350 they don't really want a "Bwin hacked" PR story either. Another angle to pursue might be that if the account behaviour (deposit amount, bet types, games played etc) was totally different to what you normally do (assuming they have enough data on your usual behaviour) you could argue that their system could have spotted that in conjunction with new IP etc.

[TightEnd]

Morning all, I wonder if anyone has any advice on this please?

My Bwin account was hacked. The hacker changed all my account details, including the password and email address. I received no email saying that my email had been changed, which I thought was standard practice.

The hacker then used PayPal to deposit £150 into my account twice. For some reason Bwin had my PayPal account linked as a pre-authorised account so the hacker didn't need to know my PayPal password. Obviously he was then unable to withdraw it to his own account so he just gambled it on the site and lost it all.

Bwin are refusing to refund the £300 or the £50 that was already in the account because they say it is my responsibility to ensure my account is not hacked and because the money was lost on the site.

They have therefore profited to the tune of £350 because of the hacker's illegal activities. The hacker is neither in profit or at a loss, while I am £350 down. They don't appear to think that this is unfair! They also won't answer my repeated questions about why I didn't receive any notification of the email or password being changed.

Any ideas please?

Thanks.

no promises

but PM me real name, account name and email address on the account and i will try (via party) to get to the right person at bwin for you

[doubleup]

I would def inform Paypal that the transaction was not authorised and raise a dispute. 

[superwomble]

Thanks Tighty, PM'd.

doubleup - I have reported to PayPal, they say they will do nothing as it counts as an authorised payment. I have emailed to say it wasn't but no reply yet.

[doubleup]

Thanks Tighty, PM'd.

doubleup - I have reported to PayPal, they say they will do nothing as it counts as an authorised payment. I have emailed to say it wasn't but no reply yet.

If they don't reply within a short time say that you are going to the Financial Ombudsman (I think Paypal voluntarily comes under their jurisdiction).  Apart from Bwin's security shortcomings, Paypal's interface with Bwin is also deficient if it doesn't require authentication.

[Horneris]

Deposit £650, spin it upto £1,000 and withdraw.

Then forget it ever happened.

[DropTheHammer]

About a year ago my Betfair account got hacked and, bizarrely, the hacker just spent a number of hours gambling away my balance in the casino. Fortunately, I was regularly using the account and they could tell from the IP where this person was in the UK, and therefore tell that it obviously wasn't me. I also never gambled in the casino which probably helped my case.

They refunded all the money (over a grand) so I hope you are reimbursed.

[superwomble]

About a year ago my Betfair account got hacked and, bizarrely, the hacker just spent a number of hours gambling away my balance in the casino. Fortunately, I was regularly using the account and they could tell from the IP where this person was in the UK, and therefore tell that it obviously wasn't me. I also never gambled in the casino which probably helped my case.

They refunded all the money (over a grand) so I hope you are reimbursed.

Betfair are obviously not the lowlife scum Bwin/Party are then - Bwin accept that my account was hacked and that it was not me but are still happy to keep my money.

[Killerkilsby]

Confirmed Bwin are scum.

They let me deposit £100, place £100 of bets.

When the £100 won, they sent a mail to say that my account should have been closed but was accidently opened so the bets were void.

Scummy yes..... but gets worse, they then refused to refund the £100 as account should have been closed, tried most avenues but still no joy. Gave it up in the end.

Confirmed Scum.

[superwomble]

Confirmed Bwin are scum.

They let me deposit £100, place £100 of bets.

When the £100 won, they sent a mail to say that my account should have been closed but was accidently opened so the bets were void.

Scummy yes..... but gets worse, they then refused to refund the £100 as account should have been closed, tried most avenues but still no joy. Gave it up in the end.

Confirmed Scum.

Well that doesn't fill me with much hope for getting my money back... That's a disgrace!

[Jamier-Host]

Confirmed Bwin are scum.

They let me deposit £100, place £100 of bets.

When the £100 won, they sent a mail to say that my account should have been closed but was accidently opened so the bets were void.

Scummy yes..... but gets worse, they then refused to refund the £100 as account should have been closed, tried most avenues but still no joy. Gave it up in the end.

Confirmed Scum.

Deposited by what means? If card you could have just rung the bank and requested a refund due to goods/service not being delivered.

[superwomble]

The update to this is that Bwin are point blank refusing to give me my money back. They say that as the hacker lost the funds on the site they cannot be retrieved. So they have £350 in their account which is only there due to a hacker's illegal activity and their shoddy site security yet they cannot see it is unfair for them to keep it. Surely any site with a modicum of customer service would want to show goodwill and give it back? I cannot fathom how they think £350 is worth more to them than customer goodwill and simple fair behaviour. Fuming.