Gambling industry ‘uses third parties to harvest online data and help bookies target those who have quit betting’

BRITAIN'S biggest bookies are targeting reformed gamblers and those on low incomes, it is claimed.

Just one day after online bookie 888 was fined a record £7.8 million for failing to protect thousands of vulnerable customers, new claims suggest the problem could be widespread.

reports that bookies use third-parties companies to get email accounts of some of Britain's most vulnerable.

One source, who previously worked with bookies to find targets, said: "We could also combine segments, ie we could target users who are on less than £25k a year, own a credit card and have three kids, via these providers.

“Third-party data providers allowed us to target their email lists with precision.

“Lower-income users were among the most successfully targeted segments."

Yesterday, the Gambling Commission found that due to a technical failure in 888’s systems, over 7,000 customers who had chosen to self-exclude from their casino, poker and sport platform were still able to access their accounts on their bingo platform.

Self-exclusion is a facility for those that have decided that they want to stop gambling for at least six months and wish to be supported in their decision to stop by providers.

It is up to customers to stick to their self-exclusion agreement, but if they try to gamble during that time the gambling business should take reasonable steps to prevent them from doing so.

But the commission said 888’s procedures were “not robust enough”, which meant that some 7,010 self-excluded customers were able to deposit a total of £3.5 million into their accounts between October 2015 and September 2016.

Sarah Harrison, chief executive at the Gambling Commission, said that safeguarding consumers is not optional and added that the record penalty fine reflects the seriousness of 888’s failings.

Ms Harrison said: "The 888 sanction package will ensure those affected don’t lose out, that the operator pays the price for its failings via a sum that will go to tackling gambling-related harm.”

The online firm also failed to recognise “visible signs of problem gambling behaviour displayed by an individual customer, which was so significant that it resulted in criminal activity”.

In one particular case, a customer went on £1.3 million gambling binge after stealing £55,000 from their employer.

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The £7.8 million fine includes repayment of the £3.5 million deposits made by self-excluded customers and compensation of £62,000 to the employer from whom money was stolen.

More than two million people in Britain may be problem gamblers, according to a recent research by the Gambling Commission.

It found that 63 per cent of adults had gambled in the past year. Of those 1.4 per cent — 400,000 people — were chronic gamblers.

Earlier this year, a premier league footballer gambled away £15 million after getting hooked on card games and online casinos.

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