New Jersey gambling regulators have levied $25,000 fine against Gaming Innovation Group for one-off geolocation incident
Malta-based online gambling company Gaming Innovation Group (GIG) was fined in New Jersey for vulnerabilities in its geolocation technology that enabled a Nevada gambler to wager money on its New Jersey website last summer.
GIG has entered the New Jersey online gambling market through a partnership with Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. The gambling venue opened doors last June at the site of the former Trump Taj Mahal and launched its GIG-powered online casino operation shortly after.
During the first week of operation of the gambling website, a Nevada-based player with sufficient technical knowledge was able to exploit vulnerabilities in the online casino’s geolocation system and to gamble. Under New Jersey’s gambling law, a customer must be physically present in the state in order to be able to play at online casinos.
The Nevada gambler was able to inspect the browser code of the GIG-powered gambling operation and to change data in order to indicate that he was located in New Jersey at the time of gambling. The patron lost $29 before the system vulnerability was detected just a few days later.
That happened when a geolocation company was checking Hard Rock’s system. The gambler was denied access to the online casino and the system was repaired immediately. Hard Rock and GIG also notified New Jersey regulators about the one-off incident.
A Player’s $29 Loss Costs GIG $25,000
The New Jersey Division of Gaming slapped GIG with a $25,000 fine for the geolocation flaw. In a recent statement on the matter, the Malta-based gambling group said that the “one-off single incidence of out-of-state gambling was due to a technical vulnerability which was quickly discovered and reported.”
The statement went on that a gambler from Nevada “with technical knowledge managed to access the front end debugger to change the location and pretend to be from New Jersey.” The company further pointed out that it maintains the necessary controls to ensure that its services are always complaint with gambling regulations.
GIG is not the only gambling company to have experienced geolocation issues and to have been fined over those by New Jersey regulators. In 2017, The Stars Group (then Amaya Inc.) was levied $25,000 for a technical flow in its geolocation system. The Canadian gambling giant entered the New Jersey market in 2016 with the launch of its PokerStars brand through a partnership with Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino.
In 2016, GAN got a $25,000 fine for allowing six out-of-state gamblers access to the New Jersey online casino of online gambling operator Betfair. GAN’s violation occurred due to “unintentional activation” of mobile software that skipped the necessary testing. The failure resulted in wagers totaling $350 being placed from outside New Jersey.
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