PayPal Admits to Sharing Customer Info With Company Tied to UB Poker Scandal

Submitted by Ace King on

Written by :

Ace King

Published on :

According to PayPal's Privacy Policy, the popular payment company contracts Iovation to "retrieve risk information regarding the IP and device from which you are accessing PayPal [and] research and testing as to appropriateness of new products and services."

BetOnline

Iovation, for those of you unaware, has a CEO who founded Ultimate Bet, the now shuttered online poker site scarred by an internal cheating scandal that ultimately wound up being profiled on a segment of the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes".  

Whether the folks behind PayPal were aware of Iovation’s skeletons, few seem to really know.  PayPal bigwigs might not follow industry poker news but they certainly keep tabs on their own community forum, which now features a posted message regarding the controversy.

USPoker.com was among the first websites to note the cozy relationship between PayPal and Iovation

And it is not the first time Iovation has developed business partnership arrangements with otherwise reputable companies.

Last March, the Station Casinos backed online poker site Ultimate Poker (not to be confused with UltimateBet) severed ties with Iovation once these past revelations came to light.

“We understand that there were concerns among some of our customers, we hope this makes our players feel more comfortable,” a short statement from Ultimate Poker read at the time.

Iovation is subcontracted through CAMS, itself a subsidiary of Verifi.

From US Poker:

Travis Makar, a former business associate of Russ Hamilton, released tapes that implicate Hamilton and Greg Pierson, among others, in a cover-up of the UltimateBet insider cheating scandal. Pierson is the CEO and co-founder of Iovation.

A documentary on the UltimateBet insider cheating titled UltimateBeat connects Iovation co-founders directly to the scandal.  Scott Bell, director and creator of UltimateBeat, published a detailed outline of the tapes leaked by Makar here.  These tapes were used in the UltimateBeat film.

- Ace King, Gambling911.com

Related Content

Polymarket

Wanna Bet? Washington Steps Up Scrutiny of Prediction Markets

As the United States was preparing a daring mission to rescue an airman whose fighter jet was shot down by Iran, there was money to be made.
Legal

Ninth Circuit of Appeals Judges Skeptical Over Prediction Markets Claim They Can Bypass State Laws

U.S. Circuit Judge Ryan Nelson bluntly rejected Crypto.com attorney Shay Dvoretzky’s argument that exchange-traded contracts differ in substance from sportsbook wagers.
Guitar Hotel Hollywood Florida

May 2026 Casino Promotions and Events at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood

Gambling911.com has received the May 2026 promos and entertainment schedule for the fabulous Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, our own backyard.
Dave & Busters

Suit Against Dave & Busters in South Carolina Court Claims Arcade Games Are Unlawful Gambling

A state advocacy group filed a suit in the District Court of South Carolina Florence Division late Wednesday April 15 arguing the chain’s games function as unlawful gambling rather than entertainment.