Gossip Column: Galfond & Kornuth are the Latest Targets of ID-Theft & Bank Fraud Schemes; Hellmuth-Backed Bitcoin Latinum Sued For Alleged Securities Fraud

WSOP bracelet winners have recently been in the news, but unfortunately, for the wrong reasons.

Starting with Phil Galfond and Chance Kornuth, the latest victims of scammers attempting to steal their identities. The multiple bracelet winners are among many well-known poker pros who have been targeted as part of the ongoing fraud.

While in the first story, we have poker players who have been targeted, in the second story, we have the ‘self-proclaimed G.O.A.T of poker,’ Phil Hellmuth, who seems to be taking a bit of heat. The PokerBrat’s sponsor, Bitcoin Latinum, has been sued in California over allegations of securities fraud. While Hellmuth is not directly involved in the mess, given that he has been vehemently promoting the cryptocurrency, he is bound to receive some shade from Twitterati.

WSOP Bracelet Winners Phil Galfond & Chance Kornuth Fall Victim to ID-Theft & Bank Fraud Schemes

Poker players are being targeted in an ongoing scheme that involves scammers creating bogus online-gambling accounts using stolen personal data, followed by the fraudulent transfer of funds from their bank accounts. The latest pros to fall prey to such schemes are WSOP bracelet winners Phil Galfond and Chance Kornuth.

The revelations come as a second version of the ongoing fraud comes to light, involving what may have been the use of identities and passwords from another site stolen and sold online, with the data used to create bogus accounts at sports betting-only sites such as DraftKings and FanDuel. Whether this newer version of the scam involves the same perpetrators remains unknown.

Galfond and Kornuth join several other prominent victims or attempted victims of the frauds, including Joseph Cheong, Kyna England, Todd Witteles, Kathy Liebert, David Bach, Sam Panzica, Clayton Maguire, Brock Wilson, and Melissa Burr.

Galfond and Kornuth tweeted about the theft attempts.

The Run It Once Poker co-founder offered some new information he received from investigators.

The day before I closed this account, the fraudsters successfully created a @BetMGM account in my name & deposited $2k. BetMGM contacted me & have already reimbursed me.

I also received a password reset email from Stardust Casino (@FanDuel) due to failed login attempts (not me). https://t.co/lUeDhipvGS

— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) November 22, 2022

Kornuth confirmed on Twitter that he was among the scammers’ intended victims and was notified of the issue by BetMGM, where many fraudulent accounts associated with the fraud have been created.

I got a call yesterday from @BetMGM that two accts had been opened it my name. Took major security precautions yesterday… https://t.co/FVwcKmqXDN

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) November 20, 2022

Todd Witteles was also hit for a $10,000 sum, and he dived straight in to get to the bottom of what was happening. He has spent hours putting together all the stories with regular announcements, which seems to have done the trick with the affected gambling platforms now paying back customers. Witteles himself received a full refund once the story started to go viral.

They kicked the response into higher gear because of the increasing publicity of the situation.

— Todd Witteles (@ToddWitteles) November 19, 2022

DraftKings was quick to tweet that it would make whole any customer that was impacted.

Statement: pic.twitter.com/HsK9Rb0OZ3

— DraftKings News (@DraftKingsNews) November 21, 2022

Phil Hellmuth Backed Bitcoin Latinum Sued For Alleged Securities Fraud

Bitcoin Latinum, the cryptocurrency prominently promoted by 16-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, is again facing legal difficulties after being sued in California last week over allegations of securities fraud. A lawsuit was filed against Bitcoin Latinum corporate entity GIBF GP, Inc., founder Donald Basile, and ten co-defendants.

In the lawsuit, Californian Arshad Assofi alleges that Basile and Bitcoin Latinum defrauded him of more than $15 Million in investment funds through false claims by Basile regarding the Bitcoin Latinum project. The project has been prominently promoted inside the poker and gambling worlds by Hellmuth, a paid endorser of the crypto company, and was previously listed in at least one investment database as an angel investor in the project.

Hellmuth and Bitcoin Latinum founder Basile are friends and reasonably close neighbors, both living in Palo Alto, California.

My guy ⁦@TheDonBasile⁩, CEO/Founder of Bitcoin Latinum w ⁦@StephenCurry30⁩ at @Warriors Charity poker tourney #POSITIVITY pic.twitter.com/ixPu57jt3i

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) February 6, 2022

This is the second lawsuit aimed at Bitcoin Latinum to be filed this year. In February, the fledgling cryptocurrency faced accusations of fraud in a Michigan court leading to a 95% fall in its value amid talk of investment funds being “diverted and misappropriated for personal use.

A statement released denied all claims and informed the plaintiffs that they would be countersued for more than $1 Billion each.

“It is the official stance of Bitcoin Latinum that the accusations are without merit. Bitcoin Latinum neither had a relationship with nor received any investment from the plaintiffs.”