DraftKings Denies Lawsuit Claiming It Leaked Customer’s Personal Information

Earlier this year, a John Doe filed a lawsuit against DraftKings alleging the sportsbook gave his personal information to bettor Gadoon “Spanky” Kyrollos, who went on to allegedly extort the John Doe for unpaid debts. The John Doe in the case has now been unmasked on X by Spanky as New York attorney Steve Jacobs, the lawyer for the Plaintiff in this case.

Jacobs alleges that DraftKings leaked his personal information, leading to him being threatened and assaulted. At the same time, professional bettor Spanky claims Jacobs was involved in a sports betting scheme that ended in betrayal between the two.

Although the Plaintiff wished to remain anonymous, things have now taken on a life of their own on social media.

Whale Fishing

Spanky, alongside an associate named Oscar Jones, was allegedly working with Jacobs by funding him and giving him picks to place at DraftKings. The supposed reason for this arrangement is that Spanky is limited from betting large amounts at DraftKings. Spanky alleges that Jacobs ran off with the winnings without paying his partners.

Spanky describes Jacobs as a whale/VIP, or a long-term losing bettor, who had higher betting limits at DraftKings. Regulated sports books prohibit bettors from funding others to place wagers for them.

It violates DraftKings terms of service, which states that nobody else can place bets using your sportsbook account. Regarding state law, New York legislation has a caveat for prohibited bettors, stating “any individual placing a wager as an agent or proxy for another person known to be a prohibited sports bettor” is also a prohibited sports bettor. While DK may have limited Spanky, they didn’t ban him from wagering with the book.

However, if the Defendant and Plaintiff were involved in a betting scheme, DraftKings may ban them going forward.

Does The DraftKings Lawsuit Have Any Merit?

Jacobs’ lawsuit centers specifically on DraftKings leaking his personal information. He is not suing DraftKings for withholding winnings or for banning him.

Jacobs also accuses Spanky and his associate of orchestrating threats and an assault to collect more than $500,000 in winnings, according to SBC Americas.

Spanky denies that DK leaked Jacobs’ personal information to him. He claims that Jacobs lied about DK denying withdrawals, took the money, and did not pay his share of winnings. Jacobs claims that Spanky became suspicious and acted on his suspicions by reaching out to contacts at DraftKings to see what was going on. Spanky says he had no such contacts and simply fabricated the story to see how Jacobs would react.

DraftKings released a statement on the issue and is moving to dismiss the lawsuit quickly.

“The complaint filed against DraftKings in March 2024 by an unnamed plaintiff is full of inaccuracies and baseless allegations,” DraftKings said in response to the lawsuit. “In the complaint, the plaintiff does not identify any DraftKings employee but rather alleges on ‘information and belief’ that an unknown and unidentified DraftKings employee provided private account information to ‘Spanky’ and to additional unnamed third parties.”

DraftKings went on to say it has already conducted an internal investigation.

“DraftKings has found no evidence of anyone at DraftKings providing plaintiff’s information to a third party, and DraftKings denies acknowledging any such ‘security breach’. Nor has DraftKings uncovered any improper activity by a DraftKings employee, or any activity on plaintiff’s account, relating to the allegedly unauthorized change of the email address associated with plaintiff’s DraftKings account.”

This information was publicly available via New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). The lawsuit naming DraftKings as a defendant is still ongoing.