The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) has hit DraftKings with a $450,000 fine for allowing customers to make deposits with credit cards.
The incidents occurred between 10 March 2023 and 13 February 2024, and resulted in 1,160 unlawful wagers totalling over $83,000.
Massachusetts law prohibits operators from accepting deposits or wagers using credit cards, even if the deposit is made in a state which allows credit card deposits.
DraftKings self-reported the violations to the MGC on three separate occasions.
The operator believed it had solved the issue when it first identified the problem, which began when it went live in the state in March 2023 until the end of May. DraftKings attributed the initial breach on internal miscommunication.
When the first fix failed, DraftKings self-reported the issue to the MGC for a second time, followed by a third incident in which DraftKings accepted two wagers on its pools product using credit cards.
The MGC acknowledged that DraftKings self-reported the issues and cooperated with all investigations, but raised concerns about DraftKings’ policies, given that despite repeated reassurances that the issue had been fixed, the breaches continued to occur.
Alongside the fine, the MGC has ordered DraftKings to show proof that it has returned the funds to the relevant players and to conduct a third-party audit to verify that no other money was deposited and/or wagered via credit card on Massachusetts accounts in early 2023.