Danish Poker Cheat Accused Of Fraudulently Winning Millions Online

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Thursday, December 11th, 2014 | Written by Shane Larson

The online poker world is threatening to have its reputation further tarnished, after news reports have alleged a Danish high-stakes poker pro may have won millions of euros cheating online over a decade. Although the culprit’s name will not be released while the investigation is ongoing, the online poker forums have not been so reticent with their accusations, with popular speculation pointing towards a certain Danish former EPT winner. Commenting on the troubling news, Danish police commander Torben Koldborg Frederiksen, said:

“I can confirm that we have received a review of that person and that it is tens of millions.”

A Backdoor Trojan

According to reports, after accessing and installing a sophisticated backdoor trojan on his opponent’s computers, the unnamed Danish high-roller was able to see the hole cards of his online victims, and subsequently take them for millions of Euros, almost causing a number of them to go broke in the process. One of his victims, however, became suspicious of fraudulent activity after returning home one day to discover his home computer had been restarted, with a check of his home surveillance system then revealing “it had been shut off for around 15 minutes earlier that evening.”

Who Were His Victims?

If the fraud did take place over upwards of nine years, then the number of the cheat’s victims and potential compensation claimants could be very high indeed. Some of his intended victims may have included Finnish pro Jens Kyllönen, Romanaia’s Ignat Liviu and the USA’s Scott Seiver, who had previously reported suspicious activity whilst attending EPT tournaments in Berlin (2012) and Barcelona (2013).

Jens Kyllönen’s case attracted a great deal of attention at the time, as following the talented pro’s elimination from the EPT Barcelona, he discovered his laptop was missing from his hotel room, only to have it suddenly reappear later on the same day. Kyllönen then took his laptop to be examined by malware research firm F Secure, which subsequently confirmed a USB memory stick had been used to install a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) on his machine.

Outside Help?

There is also speculation the Danish cheat benefited from his association with a person connected with the Danish police department, who was an expert in creating trojans to “spy on the computer activity of suspected criminals.” This has yet to be confirmed, however, and it true would have been done without the knowledge of the Danish police department.

Who Is The Alleged Cheater?

The Danish Department of Economical Fraud has said that the alleged cheat will not have his name released until charges are filed, but it would seem many in the poker media and community already have their own minds made up as to the culprit’s identity. As an igaming.org article states:

“The player is one of the most famous Danish high-stake players, having won an EPT as well as played some of the highest stakes online. The name of the player is known to iGaming.org, but as he has yet to be charged we will not disclose his name. We will update the case as soon as more information is being released.”

Players’ Worst Nightmare

High-stakes poker players have been concerned about the potential for sophisticated fraudsters to hack their computers and install malicious software for years, especially following the Ultimate Bet superuser cheating scandal which broke more than six years ago. Back then, Ultimate Bet owner Russ Hamilton working with a group of collaborators were able to “win” more than $22 million from his customers, making the incident the biggest scandal in online gambling’s history.

Protect Yourself

Following Jens Kyllonen stolen laptop incident on the sidelines of the 2013 EPT Barcelona, f-secure.com posted an article called ‘Sharking: High-Rollers in the Crosshairs’ in which the firm noted that in a departure from previous attacks, the criminals had gone to the trouble of hacking the victims’ systems on site. The article also offered the following advise to players:

“If you have a laptop that is used to move large amounts of money, take good care of it. Lock the keyboard when you step away. Put it in a safe when you’re not around it, and encrypt the disk to prevent off-line access. Don’t surf the web with it. This advice is true whether you’re a poker pro using a laptop for gaming or a business controller in a large company using the computer for wiring a large amount of funds.”