A London-based law firm may be looking to bring action against betting firm and online casino operator Sky Betting and Gaming, citing prohibited advertising as the basis of future litigation. The firm, PGMBM, is looking into the possibility of filing a class-action lawsuit on behalf of 120,000 people who mistakenly received a gambling advertisement by Sky Vegas, the company’s online casino.
The promotional emails were “mistakenly” sent to people who have explicitly opted out of betting correspondence. PGMBM has urged people who have been targeted by the “free online spins” campaign to get in touch with it at www.skybetclaimlawyers.com and register for a class-action lawsuit.
The company, which specializes in data breaches, has argued that people who are recovering from gambling disorders may be put in danger. Tony Winterburn, who is legal director at PGMBM, added:
“These emails have already caused harm and distress to those who opted out of receiving gambling promotions for very good reason.”
Recovering Addicts Received the Email
One of the people to receive the email is Clean Up Gambling director Matt Zarb-Cousin who is a recovering gambling addict.
Zarb-Cousin argued that recovery in the context of an entertainment environment saturated with gambling advertisements already proved too difficult. There is too much temptation out there, Zarb-Cousin added, and blasted Sky Bet for what could have been a genuine faux pas but has impacted gamblers:
“It is inexcusable of Sky Bet and we would encourage anyone who has been sent these emails to alert the relevant authorities and seek out the support they need.”
Clean Up Gambling director Matt Zarb-Cousin
Winterburn is convinced that Sky could be doing more to protect vulnerable gamblers. He nevertheless praised Sky for communicating openly about the issue and providing transparency in the matter.
Yet, he seems determined to pursue the issue and argued that the mistaken email blast had family members of gambling addicts worried, whether their loved ones had relapsed into bad habits.
Flutter UK’s chief executive, Conor Grant, the company which owns Sky Vegas, has apologized for the issues with the email and the campaign that ended up in the mailboxes of self-excluded individuals.
He reassured customers that the company was doing everything in its power to make sure that this would not happen again. To Grant’s credit, Sky Vegas took voluntary steps to notify the regulator of the breach and assured that Sky Vegas took customer well-being “extremely seriously.”
“Safer gambling is our number one focus and, while we haven’t always got everything right, we are determined to do as much as we can to protect those who may be at risk,” Grant said.