Bally's Evansville steals $212,000 via vendor phishing scheme
Officials at a Bally's in Evansville, Indiana, told police the company recently fell victim to a phishing scam that resulted in more than $212,000 being misdirected to the casino.
Evansville Police report that Bally's Evansville recently contacted law enforcement to report an alleged phishing scam.
Casino officials said a construction company is working on the property. One caller to Bally's venue executives claimed they had an issue with their work email address and were using a new one. The person then emailed Bally’s with a bank account and routing number to pay for the work done.
Bally officials said the casino paid the $212,671 bill, but later realized the phone call and subsequent emails and bank details were part of a fraud. No further details were released by police or Bally's. The investigation is ongoing.
Bally's Evansville is a land-based casino located on the Ohio River. The 45,000-square-foot casino features 950 slot machines, 30 electronic and live dealer tables, and a William Hill sportsbook. The casino also features 350 guest rooms, four restaurants and wedding and event space.
Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI) acquired the then-named Tropicana casino from Caesars Entertainment in 2011 for $480 million. Bally's paid GLPI $140 million for the rights to operate the property. Bally’s pays $28 million in annual rent to GLPI.
Casino Cybercrime
Casinos have been making a lot of unnecessary headlines lately because they have become targets for cybercriminals. MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment are the two most prominent victims, with both companies suffering cyber attacks this year.
MGM refuses to pay ransom, causing lengthy outage at resorts of its U.S. hotels. A cyber gang reportedly gained access to MGM's IT systems over the phone, with the perpetrators posing as an employee who needed to reset their login details.
A cyber gang called Scattered Spiders claimed to have placed a 10-minute call to the help desk. The call resulted in the hacking group gaining access to MGM's internal systems and networks.
The FBI issued a "Joint Cybersecurity Advisory" last month urging casinos to be wary of data extortion schemes constructed through social engineering manipulation. The FBI recommends that casinos take immediate steps to improve IT security.
The Bally-Evansville incident does not appear to be a cyber attack, but another criminal attack targeting a casino owned by a major gaming operator. Before the MGM and Caesars attacks, casinos owned by tribal groups were more frequently targeted by cybercriminals.
Evansville Scandal
Bally's Evansville fired a former pit supervisor in March after local prosecutors accused him of running an illegal poker room.
Police say 53-year-old Edward Hill has been running illegal cash poker games for years. But with Bally's Evansville closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, his business has boomed. Hill was charged with three felonies for operating "Ed's Poker Club" out of an Evansville office building.
In August, security at Bally's Evansville arrested a woman on the state's casino exclusion list for presenting a counterfeit $100 bill. Shatanya Bennett was charged with counterfeiting, gambling fraud, false identity and criminal trespass.
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Source: www.casino.org
