Good evening!
My name is Nikita Kuznetsov. I play expensive enough tournaments (~ABI 700). I am sure that both the Russian-speaking and the entire foreign poker community knows me well. I know many players personally, talking and playing at various live poker events and tournaments.
My Ebaaa11 account at WPN platform was hacked in mid-February of this year (after which ~$36,700 was stolen from my account).
The hacker WITHOUT CURRENT DOCUMENTS, doing social engineering and pretending to be me, was able to convince the WPN network support that it was really me and that I really wanted to change the email address, which you can change the password in a minute.
Looking ahead a little, IÂ’ll let you know that he does have some photos of my documents, but none of them has not been an up-to-date (all gaming platforms usually ask for a passport photo with a face and an ACTUAL date).
I spent my last gaming session on Sunday February 12th. The next day on Monday (02/13/2023) I flew from Montenegro to France.
The scammer knew about the upcoming trip through my telegram channel, which I am quite active in. I knew that I would not have access to the workplace. A little story about a scammer...
In December 2021, my e-mail was hacked. The fraudster downloaded various documents from there: a passport photo, a photo of my face with a passport, a photo of a driver's license (perhaps something else).
Once again, I note that all of the above documents do NOT contain any relevant dates. It's just a passport photo and a photo of my face with a passport taken 5-7 years ago. I am sure that this is not enough to change e-mail address.
Nevertheless, only I have had access to the e-mail since December of 2021, and in general this does NOT justify the actions of the WPN support - changing mail according to documents WITHOUT an actual date.
I received my first email from WPN support on February 14 at 6:11 pm (I'll attach a screenshot). I did not respond promptly to the message, because I do not receive notifications to the Rambler mail and I was not at the workplace.
Judging by the COIN POINTS exchange transactions by the hacker (I will attach a screenshot), he received access to my account almost INSTANTLY, putting all the funds for withdrawal (which, probably, were verified for several days).
The WPN security service gave my account to the scammer literally in a COUPLE OF HOURS - it took me ALMOST TWO WEEKS to return the stolen account.
The WPN support was NOT confused by the fact that after the change of mail the withdrawals began to actively begin (although before that I did not withdraw anything at all).
The manager wrote through GT+ SUPPORT (Russian PokerKing's affilate) that the scammer sent them some documents from 2022. I donÂ’t know what kind of documents they were, but at the time of the hacking it was February 2023 - WPN support was NOT embarrassed either.
I asked the WPN security team to show the documents that the scammer sent them - I didn't received any response. I understand that this is confidential information, but they know for sure that this is a hacker and this could help the process.
I asked the WPN support team for a week to write the balance of the room - I also did not receive any answer.
WPN Support was NOT confused that there was no up-to-date date on the documents.
The manager also wrote that the scammer sent them some screenshots from the room lobby. I think these were usual "screenshots of tournaments lobbies." Or he did it after the WPN security service freely gave my account into the wrong hands.
Instead of prompt assistance, for more than a week I received (or did not receive at all) strange messages from them in the format of moral support, incompetent questions, etc.
One day I received a large letter with various questions, to which I answered in sufficient with details, attaching relevant documents to them with the current date (everything is as it should be).
A couple of days later, in response, I only get a stupid question about mail that does not apply to me at all (this is the hackerÂ’s mail - he asked support to change my actual e-mail address to his one), but for some reason the WPN employee decided that this was my mail and it was hacked.
After his answer, it became generally clear how the WPN support service reads the messages of its customers and with what responsibility it treats them.
Only after I connected some of my friends, who have personal WPN network managers, did the process begin to move a little.
Then, without answering ANY questions, WPN security returns me an account that I can't log into for several days due to used login attempts.
WPN support could not turn off the number of attempts used by me, so I could log into my client. Instead, their employee wrote 3-4 times for me to try "again". To put it mildly, the advice is bad.
After a while, I finally managed to enter the room. Confirmed that the funds were stolen by an attacker. The WPN security service was also NOT embarrassed that after the change of mail, "convulsive" withdrawals of all funds began, including even Points (despite the fact that I had never withdrawn money from their platform before).
My request to the WPN management was the following: to compensate for all the stolen funds, since it is the fault of their employees. I wrote that I agree for compensation both in cash and in tournament money/tickets (T-money).
I wrote that if the stolen funds are NOT compensated, then I will be forced to write to the licensee of Curacao eGaming, and also to tell about the situation on well-known poker forums (GipsyTeam ; 2+2) with the involvement of significant people in the poker community.
I also attached the necessary screenshots and, most importantly, a photo of the passport from the documents and the CURRENT date.
Literally the next day, as expected, I received a refusal (I'm attaching a screenshot). And to the question "what will you answer to the fact that you gave mail to another person according to irrelevant documents?" I also received a standard reply (I'm attaching a screenshot).
I would be glad if this story reaches the responsible competent people. I would be glad if this story is useful to someone.
To be honest, I can imagine how this story will end. For myself, I definitely drew conclusions. I think it's important to make this public. Be careful!
Nikita Kuznetsov
Ebaaa11