After months of being inactive on his betting account, Sportybet introduced new features that have now locked Emmanuel Ikpeama out of access to his winnings.

In 2021, Emmanuel had a serious accident. After recuperating, he logged on to his betting account in order to retrieve his winnings as he urgently needed the money. Despite having a balance of over ₦300,000, Emmanuel was unable to withdraw funds from his account due to a new security feature which requires a one-time password (OTP) every time a transaction is made on a betting account.

The OTP is either received on the registered phone number or a registered email address.

“I have an account with sportybet.com and I registered it with a particular number. Sometime in 2021, I had a life-threatening accident and I was bedridden. The number in question was not active. After some months, I got on my feet and started using the Sportybet account. So, the Sportybet platform added a new feature, which is ‘OTP for withdrawal’. When I started, they were not using OTP for withdrawal,” Emmanuel told FIJ.

Unfortunately, Emmanuel’s service provider had recycled his phone number in the months following his accident in 2021. So he was unable to receive the OTP which would authorise his withdrawals. He could not receive the OTP via email either.

“I closed my former bank account and opened another due to poor service at the former bank. I then tried to make a withdrawal on my bank account and I was asked to input the OTP sent to my phone number. I then realised that I was not receiving any OTP. I called my service provider and they informed me that my phone number had been recycled after 180 days and given to a different user while I was recovering from injuries sustained in the accident,” said Emmanuel.

Emmanuel has been trying to discuss ways to recover his money with the customer service department of the betting company for a while, but they have failed to make headway. Sportybet representatives are rather encouraging Emmanuel to continue betting despite his inability to withdraw his winnings.

“I contacted all the platforms I was registered on and they easily updated my new details. When I called Sportybet, they told me they could not change the number and there was no alternative. I said, ‘Okay, if there is no alternative, provide an alternative for me to withdraw my funds’. I have up to N300,000 in the account. They said there is no alternative and they even suggested that I play games with the money, so l could lose to them,” Emmanuel told FIJ.

“I have read their terms and conditions from the beginning to the end. There is nowhere it is stated that I cannot change my phone number. The money might not seem much, but I need it right now.”

Emmanuel also told FIJ that his mother is currently indisposed and the current industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASSU) is negatively impacting him.

A Sportybet customer service official told FIJ that “before you can make a successful withdrawal, you need to receive an OTP, and it is only sent to the registered phone number. That is the only channel through which you can receive the OTP. There is no other method; there is no other channel to receive the OTP. It is advisable for the customer to contact the service provider to retrieve the line”.

After informing the Sportybet representative that Emmanuel had lost the phone number to another customer, the customer service representative said there was nothing Sportybet could do about this matter.

“The best thing to do is contact his network provider to see if they can render any assistance from that end,” Sportybet told FIJ.

It is important to note that the OTP clause is yet to be included in the terms and conditions of the betting website, neither was Emmanuel informed of this security update beforehand.

The OTP feature which is meant to provide more security on the betting platform has become a trap for customers like Emmanuel, who may permanently lose their phone numbers one way or another.