PointsBet Sportsbook sent an email to customers on Thursday morning about a cryptocurrency promotion to all users.
The email appears to be a scam, though, as the sportsbook’s Twitter account urged customers not to click the email. Luckily, PointsBet appears to have it under control without customers’ accounts being harmed.
PointsBet has not been in great standing in the industry after this possible data breach and a previous promotional video gone wrong.
Details of possible PointsBet scam email
From what appears to be a valid email, PointsBet sent a message to customers saying that the company would celebrate “record-breaking profits” by giving away cryptocurrency to “loyal users.”
PointsBet’s Twitter account is treating this as an urgent matter, and released the following statement:
“An email was sent out this morning by a third-party provider that was not an official PointsBet communication in relation to cryptocurrency. Please delete this message and do not click or respond in any way. We will pause all emails from our system until the matter has been fully resolved with our third-party partner.”
PointsBet also sent a legitimate email to customers with the same exact message from the above tweet.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) told PlayPennsylvania it’s “still an unfolding manner” but that everyone is “taking the proper steps to mitigate the matter.”
Here are some details on what the email looked like:
- Subject line: [Urgent] Free Crypto Giveaway on PointsBet – Act Now!
- Email: [email protected]
- Big red button at bottom of email that says “Participate Now”
The email stated that customers should send PointsBet any amount of cryptocurrency and that the operator would send double the amount back. The email also stated that the “unique opportunity is available for the next 24 hours only.”
PointsBet emailed customers again Thursday afternoon stating that the issue was in fact a phishing attempt, but has been resolved. According to PointsBet, customers’ information is safe.
PointsBet’s Lightning promotion gone wrong
In December 2022, PointsBet filmed a promotional video with former NFL quarterback Drew Brees that went viral. Someone leaked a video of what looked like a violent lightning strike that struck in the area of where Brees was filming.
PointsBet even released this statement on its Twitter account:
“We are aware of the media coverage regarding PointsBet brand ambassador Drew Brees. We are in communication with Brees’ team and will continue to monitor events throughout the coming hours. At this stage we will not be making any further comment.”
Turns out that the “lightning strike” was just a setup to promote a new form of “lightning bets” customers had access to. Brees ended up being fine as PointsBet released the promotional video.
Other examples of hacking in the online gaming industry
One of the pillars of the online gambling industry is the security it must uphold. While this is a bad look for PointsBet Sportsbook, it isn’t the first time a hacking situation has occurred.
BetMGM Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook each had data breaches of their own in recent years.
BetMGM’s data breach resulted in 1.57 million customers’ information becoming at-risk. Customers from Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, New Jersey and Ontario got the following information stolen:
- Name
- Postal address
- Email address
- Phone number
- Date of birth
- Account identifiers
- Hashed social security numbers
- Transaction-related data
In the DraftKings attack, many of the same items were stolen, including account balances and the last four digits of bettors’ credit or debit cards. However, there is no proof that the hackers stole customers’ social security, bank account details, or driver’s license numbers.
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