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On Wednesday, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found that Dabble Sports had failed to close 157 accounts belonging to customers who had enrolled in the self-exclusion programme.
Furthermore, the company sent 839 electronic messages to 165 individuals who had self-excluded, along with a further 2,000 push notifications to 45 customers without including the mandatory BetStop information.
ACMA’s investigation revealed multiple compliance breaches, primarily concerning account management and marketing controls.
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On Monday, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced that Ruth Evans has succeeded Charles Counsell to take on the full time role of Gambling Commission chair.
Counsell took the helm in February 2025 following Marcus Boyle’s departure in January last year.
Evans, who chairs Stop Scams UK, an initiative she founded in 2019 to unite banks, technology companies and telecom providers to combat payment fraud, will assume the position on 30 September, commencing a five-year term.
What is Piranha Pays?
While the intention is to protect vulnerable households and ensure welfare is spent on essential needs, proposed measures are being complicated by legal, technical and privacy obstacles.
Harris Tsangarides, executive director of the Gaming & Casino Supervision Commission, said his department had noticed spikes in gambling activity coinciding with GMI payment dates, prompting the regulator to consider “technical solution” to cross-reference GMI beneficiary lists with casino membership records.
An issue raised by Giannis Vasiliadis, director of WBAS, was the limited access to recipients’ banking information. This limited data can hint at suspicious activity but cannot conclusively verify gambling transactions.
