Crown-owned Betfair has been ordered to pay AU$871,000 ($567,252) for breaching spam rules in Australia when sending out messages to VIP players.
Meanwhile pokies giant Mount Pritchard District and Community Club also faces civil action from AUSTRAC over anti-money laundering failures.
An Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigation found Betfair had sent 148 emails and text messages between March and December 2024 to players who had either not consented to, or had withdrawn consent to receive messages.
The ACMA highlighted the incident in a statement on 30 July.
The investigation also found Betfair sent six text messages and emails without an option for customers to unsubscribe from them.
All messages during the period were sent to Betfair VIP customers, offering inducements including account deposits and free event tickets.
Ruling on the case, ACMA ordered Betfair to pay the AU$871,000 financial penalty. The operator also entered a two-year court-enforceable undertaking.
This requires it to invest in an independent review of its marketing messages and implement improvements. It must also undertake staff training, quarterly internal audits and report to ACMA regularly.
ACMA’s ‘zero tolerance’ approach to spam breaches
Authority member Samantha Yorke hit out at Betfair over the case. She said spam laws have been in place for 20 years and it is “unacceptable” not to respect customer rights.
“VIP programmes are generally designed to attract and retain customers with high betting activity, however this doesn’t mean VIP customers are well off or can afford losses,” Yorke said.
“Sending promotional gambling messages to these customers without consent or with no option to opt-out is incredibly irresponsible in addition to being non-compliant.”
This marks the second occasion ACMA has taken action against a gambling operator over a VIP-related spam issue. In June, ACMA ordered Tabcorp to pay $4 million for sending over 5,700 marketing messages to VIP customers.
Tabcorp sent 2,598 messages to users between 1 February and 1 May 2024, without an option to unsubscribe. A further 3,148 messages, across SMS and WhatsApp, did not contain “adequate sender information” during the same period.
In addition, 11 SMS messages were sent without consent between 15 February and 29 April last year.
AUSTRAC takes action against Mounties
In other news, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has launched Federal Court civil penalty proceedings against Mount Pritchard District and Community Club (Mounties).
The case relates to “alleged serious and systemic non-compliance” with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) laws.
Mounties is one of the largest and most profitable club groups in New South Wales. It owns 10 venues, eight of which operate approximately 1,400 poker machines.
AUSTRAC regulates AML and CTF in Australia. It said Mounties contravened the AML/CTF Act by providing gaming services to customers in circumstances when it did not have an AML/CTF programme in line with national law.
Mounties, based in Sydney, was ruled to not have an adequate risk assessment in place. It also did not carry out appropriate staff training, nor did it have suitable, risk-based systems and controls across transaction monitoring and enhanced customer due diligence.
Other failures included not being subject to an independent review and failing to monitor certain customers with a view to identifying, mitigating and managing money laundering risks. In addition, Mounties was accused of failing to appropriately maintain its AML/CTF programme.
The Federal Court of Australia will now determine whether Mounties contravened the Act and, if so, what action it faces.
AUSTRAC: Mounties has responsibility to manage risks
With such a large network, AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said the business has a responsibility to manage risks.
“This is a big company with an even bigger responsibility to ensure its clubs are managing the risks that criminals can run dirty money through its gaming machines,” Thomas said on the actions from AUSTRAC.
“Our 2024 Money Laundering in Australia National Risk Assessment identified pubs and clubs as a medium risk sector. But when those businesses are exposed to cash, especially in circumstances where known money laundering risks are not being managed, the risk increases.
“A business operating at this scale, in a cash intensive sector, is exposed to a high degree of risk.”
Betfair breached spam laws when sending messages to VIP players, while Mounties could face action from AUSTRAC over AML and CTF failures.