Betfair Closed Account And Kept Winnings

KJF7

Hi, sorry if this is the wrong section of the forum but it's the best I could find.

I opened a Betfair account using my brother's phone and I'm assuming autofill has entered his DOB during sign-up. I didn't deposit any money or place a bet until over a week later (on the 30th of August), the bet was £10 and returned £58; when I tried to withdraw I was told I needed to verify my account.

In Live Chat I was told about the DOB being wrong so I explained what must have happened, was told it was fine and that I needed to send in 3 forms of ID to verify who I was and where I lived in order to correct my DOB and prove I am in control of the account.

I did that and was told I needed to verify myself over the phone as well so we arranged a suitable time for me. They failed to call 2 times when we arranged this.

Yesterday I contacted them through Live Chat to explain that I had waited twice during arranged times for a call and arranged a 3rd, I asked to be called as soon as possible.

They finally rang up a few hours later when I was out of the house and busy, I went through their security questions but couldn't answer when I made my transaction. The man on the phone seemed really rude and pressed me on why I wouldn't know when I made a transaction with them, I explained that I was busy and could find out exactly when after I'd gotten home by checking my online banking. He told me that I would receive an email with a decision and ended the call, the email is below:

---

Hello xxxxx,

We have had to close your account (username xxxxxxxxx). Our investigation hasn't shown enough evidence that you are actually in operation of your account.

That kind of behaviour is against our terms and conditions.

Under paragraph 7 of our terms and conditions, we can close down anyone’s account if we suspect they’re acting illegally or fraudulently on our site. We can also retain any money they have in their account.

You can take a look at paragraph 7 – and the rest of our terms and conditions – here.

We have paid the £10.20 that was deposited into this account back to the e-Wallet that it was deposited from.

This decision is final and we won’t be able to discuss it any further on the phone, on email, or by post.

Regards,

Account Security Team
Betfair

---

I need advice on how best to approach this, after trying to talk to their call centre staff I was told that there was nothing that could be done as the case had been closed, which seems a very heavy handed way of handling people's money, I mean they've essentially robbed me of £48 and are telling me there's nothing I can do about it?

I fully appreciate that it was my mistake to begin with which has caused this trouble, but surely I have a case here? I've read up on IBAS but would rather settle things directly with Betfair (they ignored my last email).

Any help and advice would be massively appreciated.

marliepanda

You provided false information.

From what I read they provided you with a refund of what you initially deposited, the £10?

All you have lost are your 'winnings' which you won, in their opinion, on a fraudulent account as you provided false information.

You are back in the position you were before you placed the fraudulent bet. I doubt you have a case.

KJF7

I understand that, but I doubt they would have provided a refund had I lost the bet. They allowed me to deposit money and gamble it despite me not passing their verification checks.

From what I was told through Live Chat I needed to prove that I was in control of the account to have it re-opened and change my DOB - I failed to prove I was in control as I couldn't answer the date when I made my transaction as I never had the information at hand (and didn't really want to guess). That's where I'm at, I don't believe they have enough evidence at all to prove that I was not in control of the account.

wealdroam

lewins9 wrote: »

I understand that, but I doubt they would have provided a refund had I lost the bet.

I think they probably would refund the stake in this situation too, but of course we'll never find out.

Shall we take a bet on it? ... oh wait...

Stevie_Palimo

Failing to agree to the terms and conditions here as per there own description on the website will see you having no chance of fighting it if you gave false details at the set up of the actual account stage, Not much you can do other than move.

naedanger

lewins9 wrote: »

I understand that, but I doubt they would have provided a refund had I lost the bet. They allowed me to deposit money and gamble it despite me not passing their verification checks.

From what I was told through Live Chat I needed to prove that I was in control of the account to have it re-opened and change my DOB - I failed to prove I was in control as I couldn't answer the date when I made my transaction as I never had the information at hand (and didn't really want to guess). That's where I'm at, I don't believe they have enough evidence at all to prove that I was not in control of the account.

Unfortunately I don't think there is anything practical you can do other than either contact IBAS (who I know nothing about) or take legal action. And I doubt legal action is worth the effort and risk for £58.

It seems clear that Betfair are not going to help otherwise.

(From the terms and conditions they don't need to prove that you were not in control of the account, they only need to suspect fraud or illegal activity. Even if this clause is unfair, or you believe they don't have enough reason to be suspicious, I think you will need to take them to court, or possibly IBAS, to get your money back.)

KJF7

Thanks. I'll just pursue it through IBAS and keep my fingers crossed.

KJF7

wealdroam wrote: »

I think they probably would refund the stake in this situation too, but of course we'll never find out.

Shall we take a bet on it? ... oh wait...

This seems like it would leave the verification system heavily open to abuse. If you had lost a big bet then why would you correctly verify your identification, knowing that they will refund your losing stake if you don't?

Fergie76

marliepanda wrote: »

You provided false information.

From what I read they provided you with a refund of what you initially deposited, the £10?

All you have lost are your 'winnings' which you won, in their opinion, on a fraudulent account as you provided false information.

You are back in the position you were before you placed the fraudulent bet. I doubt you have a case.

Why is it fraud and not just a plain old mistake?

mije1983

lewins9 wrote: »

This seems like it would leave the verification system heavily open to abuse. If you had lost a big bet then why would you correctly verify your identification, knowing that they will refund your losing stake if you don't?

But if you had lost a big bet, then you wouldn't have anything to attempt to withdraw.

You only came across an issue when you tried to take money out of the account as you had won.

daytona0

lewins9 wrote: »

This seems like it would leave the verification system heavily open to abuse. If you had lost a big bet then why would you correctly verify your identification, knowing that they will refund your losing stake if you don't?

But you got your stake refunded when you WON, so what benefit do you get if they also do that when you LOSE? You don't gain a penny in either scenario!

On the subject of an auto-fill.... you would be the absolute exception if this wasn't the case, but your DOB would be filled in when you type in your first name (or maybe surname - can't see you filling in the address section FIRST)!! The way that betfair's registration box is set up means that you can't type in one digit into the text box and auto-fill the whole lot; the data range is too wide!

So I'm thinking one of three things:

1. The auto-fill feature wasn't used.

2. You have previously inputted the incorrect DOB into a field against your name and submitted it, thus saving it for future use

3. You share an identical first name and possibly surname (you never know!).

You couldn't answer when you made the transaction? Sod me lad but what did you bet on?! You just take that and think back to that day; were you betting on the bog, doing a cheeky one in work? What is it? You don't just *forget* when you made a deposit when you know what market you bet on and what prompted it! Were you sitting in your y-fronts at 3am betting drunk? Or at the pub watching the Newcastle United game?

I am quite shocked that you don't have an inkling as to when the bet was placed/deposit made. And I don't blame it for causing a huge red flag here!

And what prompted you to open it a week earlier? Presumably you'd open a betting account to place a bet, not let it sit inactive for over a week! Also strikes me as odd. Not surprised you got a fraud check request. Almost seems like you were testing the waters to see if it would be closed down as being potentially fraudulent.

Moral of the story:

1. Don't gamble

2. If you do, provide correct information (unless you're running a scam, like bonus whoring, in which case do it legit - the forum has a section!).