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PointsBet Australia has been hit with an over AUD $500,000 (£240,450) fine for breaches of spam and gambling self-exclusion laws.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) issued the penalty after discovering that the company sent more than 800 messages that breached Australia’s e-marketing laws. The operator was also found to have breached laws relating to BetStop – the National Self-Exclusion Register (NSER).

According to the ACMA, PointsBet delayed closing the accounts of customers who had registered for the NSER and sent marketing messages to self-excluded persons. In total, 508 messages were sent to self-excluded individuals between August and September 2023.

The AMCA did note, however, that no excluded customers were able to place bets with PointsBet during the investigation period.

Nerida O’Loughlin, Chair of the ACMA, said there were “no excuses” for gambling companies such as PointsBet failing to understand their legal obligations to customers.

She added: “..

FanDuel has introduced Real-Time Check-In, a tool that uses machine learning to predict depositing behaviour.

Cory Fox, FanDuel’s SVP of Public Policy and Sustainability, unveiled the responsible gambling tool during a panel at SBC Summit Americas’ Player Protection Symposium.

The idea behind the tool is that it will combine data with machine learning to analyse and model personalised depositing behaviour of players, and estimate how much it expects an individual to be depositing.

If a player exceeds this projection or deposits an inconsistent amount compared to their established pattern, the Real-Time Check-In will prompt them to review the transaction and give them an option to lower their deposit amount, as well as direct them to other responsible gambling tools on the FanDuel platform.

The new tool sits alongside My Spend, introduced by FanDuel at the close of 2024, which provides a detailed breakdown of deposit and betting activity for customers, as well as encourages them to ..

Spreadex has been hit with a £2m penalty from the UK Gambling Commission due to AML failings.

It comes after a compliance assessment undertaken in July 2023 shone a light on shortcomings in the approach of the firm.

Furthermore, the firm is set to undertake an independent third-party audit to ensure its AML and safer gambling controls are being properly enforced.

At the heart of the failings was Spreadex’s failure to consider core risk factors such as customer profiles, transaction methods and geographic exposure.

In terms of social responsibility, the report signified an example of when a customer hit a daily deposit cap of £3,340 on 12 separate days within two weeks. Despite this aggressive spend rate, Spreadex had minimal response or interaction with the customer.

John Pierce, UKGC Head of Enforcement, stated: “The conclusion of this case marks the second time Spreadex Limited has been subject to enforcement action. Its failure to uphold anti-money laundering standards, delay..

Testimony from Brazilian influencer Virginia Fonseca has underpinned the urgent need for further clarity surrounding the advertising standards of the Bets regime.

Fonseca, a beauty and lifestyle influencer who has amassed over 50 million followers across various social media platforms, was questioned by Senators on the influence of celebrities promoting online gambling platforms – particularly prior to the establishment of the regulated Bets regime on 1 January 2025.

Investigators have unearthed examples of influencers using “demo accounts” to promote betting platforms, often displaying unrealistic or exaggerated winnings.

Fonseca appeared not to understand the concept of demo accounts and insisted that she only followed a script provided by brands and did not use her personal account for promotional footage. She revealed that any appearances on her social media were based on mock or platform-supplied accounts.

“I’m speaking for myself — I don’t know how other influencers operate…

Australia’s financial intelligence unit, AUSTRAC, has expanded a partnership designed to fight back against financial crime, including illegal gambling scams.

The Fintel Alliance, established in 2017, is a private-public partnership between Australia’s law enforcement agencies and major banks, remittance service providers and gambling operators.

Following “significant law enforcement outcomes” due to the work of the alliance, AUSTRAC is now increasing its capacity through the establishment of a collaborative data analytics hub, a platform for data sharing which helps to identify criminal patterns and trends across the financial sector.

In addition, the Fintel Alliance’s capacity will be increased through additional staff, including a seconded senior manager from ANZ Bank who will help co-lead and build new pairings with the industry and government members.

“All members of Fintel Alliance continue to prioritise fighting financial crime and have strengthened our contribution to the ..

A letter from the UK Parliament’s Health and Social Care Committee has been sent to the Labour Government asking them to reevaluate the country’s gambling-related harms regulatory frameworks, including areas covering advertising, prevention and treatment.

Addressed to Labour’s Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention, Ashley Dalton MP, the letter also calls for another review of the Gambling Act to ensure the legislative framework gives “all agencies the power and responsibilities needed to deliver a total system response” to preventing gambling-related harm.

The letter was issued by the Health and Social Care Committee and signed by its Chair, Layla Moran MP, in response to the gambling-related harms evidence session held by the committee on 2 April, as well as a meeting between some of the committee’s members and the Gambling with Lives charity on 22 April.

Seven different topics were discussed in the letter: prevention, regulation and advertising; land-based gamb..

Gambling harms charity GambleAware has reported a 50% increase in self-referrals to its network of regional support providers since April 2023.

Problem gamblers have accessed the providers via the GambleAware-commissioned National Gambling Support Network (NGSN), which offers varying levels of support.

The latest figures from the charity also revealed that over 110,000 people have accessed some level of support from the NGSN since its foundation in April 2023. Brief interventions, typically a short conversation on how to reduce the risk of gambling harm, also saw a 93% increase.

Anna Hargrave, Deputy Chief Executive of GambleAware, commented: “The second year of the National Gambling Support Network presented an opportunity to take the learnings from year one and focus on how we can best support those affected by gambling harms.

“We’ve seen an increase in the number of people being supported and, importantly, an increase in brief interventions and self-referrals, which means we ca..