by David Purdum, ESPN
An investigation into an ongoing cyberattack that impacted thousands of betting accounts at the largest online sportsbooks has been escalated to the FBI, an industry source told ESPN.
Some customers, who were compromised and had funds withdrawn out of their personal bank accounts, were struggling to reach DraftKings and FanDuel representatives and had not been reimbursed more than a week after the attack began.
The FBI, when reached by ESPN, declined comment on the matter.
In a statement to ESPN on Wednesday night, DraftKings said the “majority of customer inquiries have been successfully resolved.”
“We intend to restore the funds from any impacted withdrawals and appreciate the patience of our customers as we continue to work through this,” a DraftKings spokesperson said.
DraftKings and FanDuel began noticing increasing unauthorized efforts to access accounts around Nov. 19. The hackers, armed with usernames and passwords believed to have been found on the internet, made deposits from bank accounts linked to the sportsbook accounts. They subsequently withdrew the deposited funds, sometimes within minutes of the initial transaction, to alternate accounts.
DraftKings estimated “less than $300,000” in unauthorized withdrawals were made from what the sportsbook said was a “small number” of accounts compromised in the attack. However, the company’s customer service team appears to have been overwhelmed by the scope of issue, with many impacted bettors saying they had not been reimbursed and were having little success communicating with anyone from DraftKings more than a week after they were compromised.
In a statement to ESPN, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement said that it was aware of the “incident” and that those impacted should “contact customer service via email at [email protected] and by leaving a voice message at 1(855)-357-2377.”
FanDuel was still detecting increased unusual activity this week. The company created a task force in its customer service department to address the issue, but customers were experiencing difficulties communicating with the sportsbook.
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