Fonbet reportedly urges self-excluded bettors to place wagers through friends

Clients of the bookmaker say that after setting a self-exclusion, they received calls from Fonbet staff offering a workaround: transfer VIP status to a friend and activate free bets via a promo code. That matters because, in high-risk verticals, the line between “customer communication” and “inducing a self-excluded player back into betting” is exactly where regulatory trouble tends to start.

1. According to customer complaints, the calls came after players had already activated a self-restriction. The pitch was not framed as a direct request to bet through someone else, but the substance was the same: move the account benefits to a friend and use the promotional offer there.
2. The SMS messages reportedly avoid the obvious trigger words. They do not use “bookmaker,” “free bet,” or “money,” and the promo code is replaced with promopin. In other words, the wording is being kept deliberately clean while the commercial intent remains easy to read.
3. The text says the calls are not sent to all customers, so there is no point in assuming every self-excluded account will receive the same treatment. Still, the mechanism matters for PSPs and acquirers because it suggests an attempt to re-engage a player who has already opted out of betting.
4. From 1 September 2026, bookmakers face administrative fines for accepting bets or advertising gambling to a person who has filed a self-exclusion. The stated penalties are from 30,000 to 50,000 rubles for an official and from 300,000 to 500,000 rubles for a legal entity, meaning the operator-level exposure is not trivial.
5. The list of prohibited conduct is broader than just taking a new wager. It also includes concluding a bet with a person in the self-exclusion register, sending advertising messages, bonuses and calls to play, and paying out winnings on a bet placed after the register data was updated. For operators and their payment partners, that is the practical risk: not just the bet, but the whole customer-reacquisition chain.