Bet9ja Website Hacked By Russians As Hackers Demand N5Billion

Popular betting site, Bet9ja has been hacked by Russian hackers.

 

Truetells Nigeria reports Sports pundits who frequently use the betting platform said the hack was noticed in the earlier hours of Wednesday as they could not access the site.

According to an operator, Michael Okoro who spoke with our Correspondent said that he worked in his shop late on Tuesday and noticed the abnormalities early Wednesday morning.

 

He also alleged that the hackers have contacted the betting company and demanded a ransom of N5bn.

“I have not worked since Wednesday morning due to the attack on the bet9ja site.

“The site has been down for almost 48 hours. They company I heard said the hackers demanded a ransom of N5bn to allow them control over the site.”

 

He also said that the situation has kept him out of work and prays that it be solved before next week Monday.

 

Our correspondent who tried to access the site, only saw the official statement from the betting site confirming the hack.

 

The statement reads, “Just like so many market-leading global organizations, Bet9ja recently became a victim of a sophisticated criminal cyber-attack, which is restricting your access to our platform.

 

“We take this matter extremely seriously. Our priority is protecting our customers and you have our assurances that your accounts and all your funds are safe.

 

“We appreciate your patience and understanding at this difficult time.

 

“We will be back stronger as soon as is technically possible, rewarding you with a truly sensational bonanza of promotions.”

Bet9ja is an online bookmaker company that offers betting on major sporting events operating in Nigeria.

Traded under KC Gaming Networks Limited and run by a series of shareholders of multiple nationalities, the website is licensed by the Lagos State Lotteries Board (LSLB) with permission to operate in other parts of Nigeria.

Bet9ja.com is the third most-visited website in Nigeria after Google.com and Youtube.com in late April 2020, according to Alexa – a global internet traffic ranking firm. It is also the first most-visited local site in Nigeria and the only Nigerian website in the top 500 most-visited websites globally as of April 2020, according to a recent listing by IABC Africa.

Bet9ja was co-founded by Ayo Ojuroye and Kunle Soname who are its CEO and chairman respectively.

Chairman of KC Gaming Networks Limited, owners of Bet9ja, Kunle Soname, confirmed to Truetells Nigeria that the company’s website was under a cyber-attack by a Russian hacking group.

 

Mr Soname confirmed that the hackers have demanded a staggering amount of money to be paid in bitcoin as ransom. The betting supremo, however, assured that the website would be back online on Friday, March 8.

 

He also debunked claims that the company absconded to avoid paying large winnings to customers who won recently, stating that all winnings will be paid once services are fully restored.

 

KC Gaming Networks Limited has escalated the ongoing cyberattack on the Bet9ja website to all the relevant federal authorities.

The company stated that their IT team was working tirelessly to restore normal services of the Bet9ja website and further assured customers that their funds are safe despite Bet9ja website hacked trending.

The statement reads thus; “It is important to keep you all updated on the actual position of things as it has been very challenging in the last 24 hours. We have seen some posts in different groups that we are carrying out a maintenance, that is obviously not the case. We will not choose an important UCL day to do such.

The entire Bet9ja system has been under attack by the Russian Blackcat group who are famous for several attacks to huge companies in the world. It is a huge hacker attack by this Russian group but our people are working from yesterday without stopping for a minute to restore all the services but it is not easy.”

Please do not be discouraged, we will surely restore things as soon as possible and provide update on the progress.

“They are asking for ransom already but we will never accept their conditions. it is important to let you know this so that we are all on the same page. They have hit us hard but of course they cannot kill us. We will stand our ground and come back even much more stronger,” the statement read.