<html><body style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Australian Financial Review Digital Edition, December 6. <br /><blockquote><div><br /> Mark Di Stefano <br /><br /><br /><br />Weeks after Meta-owned Facebook banned groups caught sending streams of private messages to potential gamblers, promising free tips in exchange for signing up to online bookmakers , they returned to the platform to seek out new customers. <br /><br />The groups run by Albury-based LRI Media were uncovered as The Australian Financial Review revealed how the company exploited Facebook’s targeted advertising and AI-enabled chatbots to get users to sign up to several online gambling companies. <br /><br />Industry sources say the groups mostly target men and have helped new online bookmakers such as Tabcorp-backed Dabble secure tens of thousands of sign-ups . <br /><br />Facebook has removed the groups from the platform for a second time after they received thousands of new followers. ‘‘ All advertisers that promote online gambling and gaming are required to follow local applicable laws and get authorisation from Meta ahead of commencing advertising,’’ a Meta spokesman said. <br /><br />‘‘ We’ve removed these pages for violating our policies . . . We are always improving how we detect and take action against violating activity and encourage people to report this behaviour when they see it.’’ <br /><br />The whack-a-mole moves come as the wagering and online sports gambling industries explode in size and popularity in western markets, particularly in Australia and the US. <br /><br />Facebook’s self-service targeting tools are a boon for modern gambling companies because of the power of targeting based on a user’s past behaviour. <br /><br />Then there’s LRI Media, or ‘‘ betting affiliate’’ , a company that sends potential customers to online bookmakers. <br /><br />Sources say affiliates often get about $200 per customer they refer, plus up to 30 per cent of each person’s lifetime losses. Affiliates are thus encouraged to find and send as many customers to different online bookmakers as possible . <br /><br />LRI’s Facebook groups formerly went by the names ‘‘ The Shark’ ’ and ‘‘ Roughie Kings 2022’’ and used the platform’s advertising tools to find customers . After Facebook banned the pages, the groups returned under the names ‘‘ Sharky’s Racing Tips’ ’ and ‘‘ King of the Roughies’’ . Once users click to get access to the so-called ‘‘ free tips’ ’ from the groups, they’re sent streams of messages from the chatbots. <br /><br />‘‘ Hey . . . we’re giving you a free tip to show you we’re the real deal, absolutely no strings attached. It’s a while till it jumps, but we’ve heard some really good chatter about it and thought we’d share it with you... just click the FREE TIP button below to access.’’ <br /><br />To get access to the so-called ‘‘ free tips’’ , users are given buttons to sign up to online bookmakers, most often Tabcorp-backed Dabble. <br /><br />Even when users click ‘‘ not interested’ ’ the chatbots are dormant a few days, before springing back to life with more messages. <br /><br />In an email yesterday, LRI Media Group’s Paddy Trutwin said, ‘‘ our understanding, based on legal advice and correspondence from Facebook support, is that our pages are compliant’’ . <br /><br />‘‘ With regard to the Facebook pages in question, Sharky’s Racing Tips and King of the Roughies were our sole pages referring racing customers in Australia – we recently have been focusing more of our attention on the US.’’ <br /><br />LRI Media is owned by two of the same entrepreneurs behind Dabble, corporate filings show. This year Dabble was valued at $150 million after Tabcorp took a minority investment in the start-up . <br /><br />Tabcorp has been on the front foot about the need for new regulations in the industry, with its CEO telling a parliamentary inquiry there was ‘‘ too much gambling advertising’ ’ as he suggested a framework for regulating advertising on social media. <br /><br />A Tabcorp spokesman distanced the company from Dabble and LRI Media, saying it was ‘‘ a minority shareholder in Dabble and does not have operational control’’ . <br /><br />Under gambling regulations in several states, bookmakers cannot offer ‘‘ inducements’ ’ such as free tips in exchange for signing up to the service. <br /><br /><br />Copyright © 2022 Australian Financial Review<br /></div>
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