It has been reported that a promotional Sky Vegas email has landed in the inboxes of people using self-exclusion and/or GamStop services for well-being protection and for gambling addiction.
Although news of the incident has only just broken, based on what we know so far, we consider this to be a serious breach that we are able to assist victims with. Your Lawyers – The Data Leak Lawyers – is a leading firm of data and consumer action specialists, representing thousands of people for privacy claims. We have launched over 50 group and multi-party actions and recovered over £1m in data compensation to date for mainly individual clients.
We are here to help, and anyone registered for self-exclusion who received the Sky Vegas email could be entitled to pursue a No Win, No Fee compensation claim now.
About the Sky Vegas email
It is understood that the Sky Vegas email sent out was promoting offers and bonuses, which is a common communication for gambling platforms to send out. However, those who were taking a break from gambling – either permanently or temporarily – and using the GamStop or platform-based self-exclusion registrations still received the email, despite self-exclusion.
This is a major incident that should not have happened. We do not yet know how many people are affected, but we have seen a number of people take to Twitter in anger over receiving the email. This incident may constitute a breach of Gambling Regulations in the UK, as well as data and privacy laws concerning marketing; specifically, the GDPR and PECR (Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations). Recovering or recovered gambling addicts receiving such enticing marketing material could easily lead to a relapse, and it could cause understandable distress for those who received the email who are specifically trying to avoid gambling.
In a tweet from Sky Vegas, they apologised to those who had mistakenly received promotional communications and confirmed that the matter is being treated seriously.
The importance of GamStop and self-exclusion
GamStop is a service that can be used to self-exclude from gambling and it can prevent you from being able to use gambling services at all. This is in addition to platforms that already have self-exclusion systems. It is a vital tool to help those with gambling addictions, and many people use it to protect themselves from losing tens of thousands of pounds, and to protect the mental health and well-being of those who are in need of staying away from gambling activity.
The Sky Vegas email appears to be a blanket email sent out with an enticing offer for their services, but what we understand so far is that it was also sent out to people who were self-excluding and using GamStop. Those who are self-excluded should not be receiving such offers and emails, which could cause significant distress.
How we can help
If you are using the self-exclusion service and have received the Sky Vegas promotional communications, you could be entitled to claim compensation.
Even if the impact is the distress alone, which we appreciate can be substantial, you may have a No Win, No Fee case. So long as you received the email and you are self-excluding and/or did not consent to receive it, we may be able to help you.
You can speak to our team here now for free, no-obligation advice on a completely confidential basis.