Prosecutors have charged seven people over an alleged fraud targeting bet365’s introductory offers, accusing the group of using personal information and false representations to obtain free betting credit. The alleged activity ran between 2021 and 2023, and the case has now moved from Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court toward Crown Court proceedings.
The defendants are six men and one woman from different parts of England. Prosecutors allege that the scheme involved obtaining bet365 promotional funds through accounts created or operated using other people’s personal details, then transferring the proceeds between accounts. These remain allegations, and none of the defendants has been convicted in relation to the case.
One defendant, accused by prosecutors of playing a central role in the alleged operation, is said to have possessed lists containing personal information that could be used to commit fraud. He also faces accusations of making false representations to obtain money through bet365’s free introductory offer between January 2021 and August 2023 and transferring alleged criminal proceeds to other accounts.
That defendant is currently being held in prison, and his Aug. 8 appearance was postponed after the prison couldn’t establish a video link with Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court, adjourning the case until Aug. 20. A similar technical problem delayed proceedings against another defendant facing fraud charges connected with the introductory offer and alleged transfers of criminal proceeds.
Other members of the group face charges including making false representations to obtain free betting credit, transferring criminal property, and supplying payment card information while allegedly knowing it could be used for fraud. Several defendants have been released on bail pending hearings at Gloucester Crown Court.
Two of the defendants are from Gloucestershire, with others based in London, Oxfordshire, and elsewhere in England. One defendant didn’t attend the Aug. 8 hearing, and the court issued a warrant without bail after receiving no explanation for the absence.
Four of the seven defendants listed for that hearing appeared and were sent to Gloucester Crown Court. Two had their proceedings delayed by the video-link failures, and the seventh was the one who didn’t turn up.
The allegations center on a familiar weakness in sportsbook acquisition offers. Bookmakers commonly use introductory bonuses to attract new customers, but those promotions also create an incentive to manufacture additional “new” accounts using false or borrowed identities. At a larger scale, what starts as conventional bonus abuse can cross into fraud when personal information is misused or deliberately false representations are made to obtain money.
Bet365 has been targeted by a much larger account fraud operation before. A man was sentenced to five years in prison in 2023 after being convicted of conspiracy to defraud bet365 and Santander, in a case where police said the group opened more than 1,000 betting accounts using identities obtained from other people, letting the scheme repeatedly claim bonuses intended for new customers. Bet365 lost more than £236,000.
The new case is separate from that scheme, and nothing in the available court reporting suggests the defendants are connected to it. The similarity lies in the alleged method, turning an offer designed to be claimed once per customer into a repeatable source of betting credit through multiple identities.
The seven cases will now continue through separate court dates before Gloucester Crown Court. Until those proceedings finish, the claims about how the accounts were created, how much money was obtained, and the role played by each defendant remain allegations to be tested in court.