DraftKings floods man's inbox with emails, despite not having an account

Saturday, December 9, 2023

DraftKings floods man's email inbox, despite not having an account

Tim Rochte never signed up with the online sportsbook DraftKings. And yet account emails started arriving in his mailbox, one after another.

MENLO PARK, Calif. (KGO) -- Tim Rochte never signed up with the online sportsbook DraftKings. And yet account emails started arriving in his mailbox, one after another.

"It started off because I got a quote-unquote confirmation of an account I had set up over the weekend a while back," Rochte said, "and you know, we all get that much spam, so I just ignored it and actually deleted it. And then it kept coming, and I got notifications of money deposited to the account. That's not right."

Rochte wanted the email to stop and to make sure his information was not compromised.

"So I reached out to their support team and said, 'Hey, you got a problem here,' you know. 'I don't know if it's a mistake, or fraud, or what? But this isn't me, and we have a problem,' to which they decided to be stupid. To be quite frank," Rochte said.

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Rochte says eventually DraftKings told him they would investigate, but the emails kept coming.

"So I reach out to them again. They say, well, you refused to provide your P-I-I. So we closed the case," he said.

P-I-I is "personal identifying information," such as birth date, address, and Social Security number. Rochte refused, then contacted 7 On Your Side about his problem.

DraftKings wrote to 7 On Your Side: "The person who filed the complaint with 7 On Your Side should no longer be receiving emails from DraftKings."

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Not exactly dripping with information, so 7 On Your Side made contact again and DraftKings was more forthcoming. They told 7 On Your Side that the company did not have any of Rochte's personal information and had corrected the email.

"I think it's been quiet enough. We can assume it's done, and thank you. Thank you and your team for help," Rochte said.

If you need 7 On Your Side's help, file a complaint online at abc7news.com.

Take a look at more stories and videos by Michael Finney and 7 On Your Side.

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