Brit Jailed for Bonus Hunting: Created Over 1000 Fake Accounts on Bet365

A 40-year-old Brit, Jon Howard was handed a 5-year prison sentence after being found guilty of defrauding Bet365 and Santander Bank, according to Blood Horse.

Reportedly, the defendant created 1000 fake accounts on Bet365 over an 11-year period (from 2008 to 2019), in order to receive welcome bonuses from the bookmaker.

In total, he made about £236,000 ($292,000) solely through bonus hunting.

But Howard was not working alone. He was part of a criminal group that specialized in this type of activity. His accomplice, 45-year-old Daniel Gorman, also faced justice and received a 16-month sentence. The duo was suspected of money laundering as well, but that charge was later dropped.

According to Detective Mike Monkton, who worked on the case, the entire enterprise was “dishonest and designed to deceive the gambling company”.

In fact, bonus abuse costs the online gambling industry 15% of its gross revenue, estimates About-Fraud.