Sportsbooks Caught Facilitating Illegal In-Play Bets, Tether Tightens Sanctions

SYDNEY, AU (Gambling911.com) - Some of Australia’s biggest gambling companies have been caught facilitating illegal in-play bets on sporting matches, leading to calls for money to be returned to punters, the Guardian reported on Tuesday.

Australian gamblers cannot place bets on events that have already started.

Some bookmakers were found to be sending "fast codes" via customer phones that allowed bets to be placed on events once started provided said customer called in with the code. Australian Media and Communications Agency (Acma) began its investigation after receiving a number of complaints.

Acma has now ruled that Sportsbet, Bet365 and Entain, which runs the Ladbrokes and Neds brands, breached the Interactive Gambling Act by accepting bets that were not made entirely over the phone. 

“Following the investigations, all three operators have taken steps to ensure their use of fast/quick codes complies with relevant interactive gambling rules,” an Acma spokesperson said. “In view of these steps taken, the Acma has decided not to take any further enforcement action at this time.”

Each of those companies insisted all info was provided via the phone.

“Customers are not able to place in-play wagers within seconds and must speak to operators fully trained in responsible gambling. Any abnormal and/or red flag behaviour is investigated and passed through to the responsible gambling team,” Entain unsuccessfully argued, according to Acma.

Entain is one of the UK’s largest sports betting companies operating globally. Sports betting in the UK is incredibly popular and the affordability of licensed low-deposit sports betting sites featured at MinDepositCasino and other platforms appeals to a lot of bettors. Unlike Australia, it is completely legal to place in-play bets on various sports events in the UK, according to the UKGC.

Tether Tightens Sanctions, Partners with US Regulators to Fight Crypto Crime

MIAMI BEACH, FL (Gambling911.com) - Stablecoin Tether is looking to curb illicit crypto activity by working in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement probes.

The DOJ, FBI, and Secret Service to froze over $400 million worth of funds across 326 crypto wallets with the assistance of Tether.

The seizure of illegal funds followed calls by U.S. Senators and Representatives last October for greater scrutiny of Tether and fellow stablecoin issuer Binance over alleged financing of terrorist groups.

Our colleagues over at CoinGeek have long warned about using Tether, and the recent law enforcement probe hardly instills confidence. 

Gavin Lucas of CoinGeek wrote earlier this year:

Tether claims it is backed by commercial paper, but it won’t reveal any details. Investigators like Bitfinex’ed on Twitter have repeatedly pointed out that there’s no legitimate reason for Tether to hide this information. Its claims that this obfuscation gives it some competitive edge are nonsensical.

Tether is becoming more accepted in the world of online gambling.

- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com