Fraudster stole up to $10,000 each from poker pros, likely due to a legalized betting payment processor breach. I was one of the victims. (BetMGM / GlobalPayments scandal)

[PositiveVariance]

I can now confirm that the perpetrators were members of an organized fraud ring, based out of San Diego County.

The fake phone number used on the BetMGM account created in my name was actually that of a burner phone, physically purchased in San Diego County.

The IP address used for the fake e-mail account was not useful, as the perpetrators were using proxies or VPNs to access it.

I have more info, but that's all I feel is proper give right now. Stay tuned.

Druff, Im sure you probably know this, for those that don’t, fraudsters can be sneaky with the area code as well. Prior to about 5 years ago, when I would buy an AT&T burner from a store like Walmart, when you “loaded your prepaid minutes”, it would ping the nearest tower and assign you an area code from that area.

The ones I have purchased since then, let you type in any zip code and it will assign you the area code within that zip code, no need to actually be in that area. You can be in New York and have a California area code.

Now you can download these app’s where you can have multiple lines to your phone for call or text. With these, you can pick the area code as well as choose between many 7 digit numbers available in that area. These Apps are prime for scammers. Many companies are getting smarter, they have a list of these type of numbers that the Apps use and won’t allow “verification text” from them. However, the traditional burner phones do allow you to receive and send verification text…


I have talked about burner phones/Apps on this forum before. I promise, I’m not a scumbag up to no good. I have a legitimate business that requires this. 10 years ago I would purchase up to 30 burners a year. These days not so much. Also, since I’m not using the phone for Nefarious purposes, I can often reuse the phone itself - just get a hand-full of SIM cards, then you can buy a loadable or prepaid card, swap out the sim and you have a new number.

[sah_24]

I believe Global Payments knows just about all of your bank account information once you initiate one transaction. They also determine what amount check a casino will cash for you. I always figured they basically knew roughly your banking balance. It’s possible there is some kind of algorithm they use over time, but regardless they have a pretty dam good idea. They get the substantial fee if you utilize a POS transaction if you have already used the ATM for the daily max. I am a little surprised BetMGM would allow ACH up to 10K on a new account.

REGULATED POKER lols ... so funny

[Dan Druff]

I can now confirm that the perpetrators were members of an organized fraud ring, based out of San Diego County.

The fake phone number used on the BetMGM account created in my name was actually that of a burner phone, physically purchased in San Diego County.

The IP address used for the fake e-mail account was not useful, as the perpetrators were using proxies or VPNs to access it.

I have more info, but that's all I feel is proper give right now. Stay tuned.

Druff, Im sure you probably know this, for those that don’t, fraudsters can be sneaky with the area code as well. Prior to about 5 years ago, when I would buy an AT&T burner from a store like Walmart, when you “loaded your prepaid minutes”, it would ping the nearest tower and assign you an area code from that area.

The ones I have purchased since then, let you type in any zip code and it will assign you the area code within that zip code, no need to actually be in that area. You can be in New York and have a California area code.

Now you can download these app’s where you can have multiple lines to your phone for call or text. With these, you can pick the area code as well as choose between many 7 digit numbers available in that area. These Apps are prime for scammers. Many companies are getting smarter, they have a list of these type of numbers that the Apps use and won’t allow “verification text” from them. However, the traditional burner phones do allow you to receive and send verification text…


I have talked about burner phones/Apps on this forum before. I promise, I’m not a scumbag up to no good. I have a legitimate business that requires this. 10 years ago I would purchase up to 30 burners a year. These days not so much. Also, since I’m not using the phone for Nefarious purposes, I can often reuse the phone itself - just get a hand-full of SIM cards, then you can buy a loadable or prepaid card, swap out the sim and you have a new number.

From what I was told, these phones were prepaids bought at a store in the area.

I know about area codes meaning nothing these days.

They appear to be T-Mobile prepaid phones.

[Small_Banana]

I can now confirm that the perpetrators were members of an organized fraud ring, based out of San Diego County.

The fake phone number used on the BetMGM account created in my name was actually that of a burner phone, physically purchased in San Diego County.

The IP address used for the fake e-mail account was not useful, as the perpetrators were using proxies or VPNs to access it.

I have more info, but that's all I feel is proper give right now. Stay tuned.

Druff, Im sure you probably know this, for those that don’t, fraudsters can be sneaky with the area code as well. Prior to about 5 years ago, when I would buy an AT&T burner from a store like Walmart, when you “loaded your prepaid minutes”, it would ping the nearest tower and assign you an area code from that area.

The ones I have purchased since then, let you type in any zip code and it will assign you the area code within that zip code, no need to actually be in that area. You can be in New York and have a California area code.

Now you can download these app’s where you can have multiple lines to your phone for call or text. With these, you can pick the area code as well as choose between many 7 digit numbers available in that area. These Apps are prime for scammers. Many companies are getting smarter, they have a list of these type of numbers that the Apps use and won’t allow “verification text” from them. However, the traditional burner phones do allow you to receive and send verification text…


I have talked about burner phones/Apps on this forum before. I promise, I’m not a scumbag up to no good. I have a legitimate business that requires this. 10 years ago I would purchase up to 30 burners a year. These days not so much. Also, since I’m not using the phone for Nefarious purposes, I can often reuse the phone itself - just get a hand-full of SIM cards, then you can buy a loadable or prepaid card, swap out the sim and you have a new number.

There is a service available that these casinos can use to verify that the phone # entered matches the person of the name entered. And that service would block phone numbers from free apps like Google Voice. I guess they didn't want to pay the fees for phone # verification.

[Dan Druff]

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/ToddWitteles/status/1617032673020764160

[Dan Druff]

BUMP

I'm trying to finally sign up for BetMGM as myself.

When I tried, it said I already had an account.

Obviously they must not have fully closed one of the accounts in my name in WV/NY/PA set up by those fraudsters.

I chatted with support, who said they'd take care of it.

Instead, I got this obnoxious email:

Marck (BetMGM AZ)

Nov 18, 2025, 4:28 AM EST

Dear Todd,

Thank you for contacting BETMGM Customer Care.

We appreciate your effort in bringing this to our attention and I hope this email finds you in good health.

This is regarding to your regsitration issue. As per checking you have existing account in New York and West Virginia .

As per checking they are permanently closed. We are reaching out to provide important information about your account.

Kindly note that, as a responsible website, maintaining the security of our customers is a top priority for us.

We would like to inform you that after conducting a standard security review of your account, we have made the decision to close it. This action is in accordance with our Terms and Conditions, where we reserve the right to terminate agreements.

As a result, you are no longer permitted to create or use any account on our network. Creating or using another account on the network will result in the closure of that account, and any balance on it will be confiscated. We appreciate your cooperation.

If you need any further help, please contact us.

Best Regards,

Online Gaming Customer Care Team

So these pieces of shit just BANNED me from the platform entirely because scammers stole $10k from me through their platform 2022, which they acknowledged at the time.

Rather than just clear off those scam accounts and let me register, they figured it was easier to just ban me for good, before I can even get on there with a legit account.

Unbelievable.

I will be filing complaints about this if they don't overturn this.