US EditionAustralians Use Banned Bookie as War Wagers Spark Journalist Death Threats
More than $14 million was wagered on an Iran-Israel missile strike market before a reporter covering the event received death threats days later.
- Australian bettors used VPNs to access a banned New York–based prediction market and place bets on military events like Ayatollah Khamenei leaving office and US forces entering Iran.
- The regulator last year warned Polymarket’s parent company after ACMA’s in-house research found 1.88 million visits from Australia in six months to last June.
- Analysis found on February 27 more than 150 accounts, mostly new, placed over $US850,000 betting there would be a strike by the 28th.
- Fabian began receiving death threats five days after his blog post, including one saying 'After you make us lose $900,000 we will invest no less than that to finish you', Fabian said.
- Experts warn that Australians can access offshore sites lacking consumer protections, raising moral and regulatory concerns, as Karoline Thomsen, UNSW Canberra PhD candidate, noted the high potential for insider trading.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
Australians use banned bookie as war wagers spark journalist death threats
Punters are circumventing the ban on Polymarket, where bets on the US-Israel-Iran war have triggered ethical concerns and fears of insider trading.
Israeli Journalist Threatened with Death by Polymarket Bets After an Article About an Iranian Strike
A bet of $14 million was launched on the Polymarket platform about an Iranian strike on Israel.
Israeli reporter on Polymarket blackmail and death threats tied to Iran war
When an Israeli journalist wrote about an Iranian missile strike, he was deluged with threatening messages from online bettors demanding he alter his reporting. 'It wouldn't surprise me' if there are more Polymarket-related influence attempts on journalism than previously thought, he tells Haaretz
Reporter's Life Threatened Over Report That Affected Polymarket
Emanuel Fabian, a 28-year-old war correspondent at the Times of Israel newspaper, published a short blog post reporting that an Iranian missile had struck an open area outside a Jerusalem suburb that didn't hurt anyone. Until he began to receive threatening messages, Fabian didn’t know his brief report had triggered a dispute over bets on the prediction market Polymarket on whether an Iranian missile would strike Israel on March 10. For those wi…
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