Hacked Account

Did the bet win?

Did the hacker withdraw the cash?

What was the virus?

Thx.

OK it was May 1st.I had a bet on Stoke v Everton game,and the following morning,when I checked there was a £2 bet placed on a match in peru I think it was.The bet lost.

I contacted betfair and the help desk guy did not seem surprised,and stated that hackers who do this,generally do it to prove that it can be done,rather than try and clean out the account.If you like more of a fun thing for them.

Betfair said they would investigate,but that would involve suspending the account etc,so as it was only £2 I didn't bother.My pc at the time was afflicted with the blue screen of death I think they call it,so this seemed to be where the virus came from.

I got the computer problem sorted and changed the password a few times and have not had a problem since.


I only brought it up today,as I had a couple of drinks last night with a few mates,and it came up in conversation.

Ask Betfair what would have happened if they did clear your full balance.

Have a look through the thread below.

Maybe we should all be rattled.

Isn't the blue screen of death just Windows crashing?

Not a virus from what I'm aware

I can't imagine a hacker placing a mere £2 bet?

Punting for Profit, was that the total available funds? Is it possible a mate could have placed the bet, or at least used your PC that day?

I'm not computer literate really but the anti virus wasn't working anyway.

No one had access to my pc,the stoke game was settled about 9.45 or so and this bet placed about midnight.My total available funds at the time would have been about 500,so that freaked me out a bit.If the hacker had placed the whole amount on the bet,it would have emptied my account.

The thing that surprised me most,was the lack of surprise from the betfair helpdesk operative,it was as if it was no big deal,a daily occurrence if you like.

Obtaining Betfair passwords is easy for those with the knowhow.

Find any easy target such as a racing forum or another bookmaker and obtain from them a list of usernames and passwords.

A lot of those usernames and passwords will also work on Betfair because so many people use the same password for multiple sites.

If you use your betfair password anywhere else apart from Betfair then you are leaving yourself open to hackers.

wouldnt you have a different usernames at different bookies?  I know I do.

Would of been good if he'd placed a bet with the £500 and it'd won, but you changed you password before he could withdraw

He could he withdraw it if it won ? Could only withdraw it to the account holders bank account.

Or set up a neteller account.

my mate lost 2k on poker or someone did ,when his account was hacked ..

was your mates account hacked, or did he just have a few drinks and them proceed to play poker.

I didn't think the money could have been withdrawn,I thought it could only be gambled if the account was hacked.Are you saying that the money can also be removed from the account by hackers?If so scary!!

"I checked there was a £2 bet placed on a match in peru I think it was...and stated that hackers who do this,generally do it to prove that it can be done"

I'm not sure that's not completely innocent, I was told that when people try and hack your credit card, they can initially try small amounts on something "easy" and if it works go for something big. Or in your case perhaps, watch your account hoping you'll top up and then hit you later. I'd have checked your logon history for multiple logons.

The blue screen of death isn't a virus, its a thing windows does when everything has gone badly pear shaped, it could be caused by hardware issue, normally though a driver issue, or at a push be a SYMPTOM of a wierd virus I suppose.

the question is...

would you have contacted betfair if the bet won?

certainly worrying if you need to keep a large bank on here and someone could hack into your account and just empty it by gambling it away.  I did ask betfair about this some time back and was told it would be almost impossible for someone to hack your account, but that clearly is not the case.

So what can you do (?) apart from regular clean-ups on your computer and regular virus checks, and change your password every now and again,  and don't use the same usernames and passwords on other sites. And also check your login history. But what else can you do, and how confident can you be if you need to operate with a large bank.

Aug 19, 2012 -- 12:32PM, Hound-Dog-2 wrote:

certainly worrying if you need to keep a large bank on here and someone could hack into your account and just empty it by gambling it away.  I did ask betfair about this some time back and was told it would be almost impossible for someone to hack your account, but that clearly is not the case. So what can you do (?) apart from regular clean-ups on your computer and regular virus checks, and change your password every now and again,  and don't use the same usernames and passwords on other sites. And also check your login history. But what else can you do, and how confident can you be if you need to operate with a large bank.

Personally, I withdraw large amounts as soon as possible. This is after a gambling site, not a bank.

after *all*

Someone I know had their account hacked. Someone deposited a minimal sum through neteller, used the account to place multiple bets totalling about 8k on a basketball game. The bets won in the region of 4k.
I'm not sure how neteller works but the hackers couldn't withdraw the full amount. Luckily the account holder noticed the next day that the account balance had increased to the tune of a couple of grand. Obviously BF were informed and the account closed.
Betfair claimed there must have been some sort of 'virus' on the pc, I don't think so tbh and the account holder has never received any explanation.

I wonder what happened to that 'couple of grand'....?

It's not up to Betfair to protect you from yourself. If you don't know how to secure your pc, not only will you be hacked at Betfair, but emails, Ebay, Paypal, banks etc etc.
In this day and age, get someone to service your pc regularly if you're not savvy, stop clicking fake emails, and stop with the porn.
Hackers don't get anything unless YOU give it to them in some way.
I never keep big balances in online accounts, I transfer as required and withdraw as required.
I keep big balances in bank accounts that have no online access whatsoever, they were the conditions I imposed.
Never had a problem.