Editor's note: After continued withdrawal complaints, ThriveFantasy provided another statement to Covers on Friday: "Users' withdrawals have continued to be processed and are being handled on a case-by-case basis."
ThriveFantasy has finally addressed a daily fantasy community seething over lengthy payout delays and poor communication, suggesting it has become the latest DFS operator to be hit by a check fraud scheme that has left it scrambling to process payout requests.
ThriveFantasy CEO Adam Weinstein released a statement Tuesday afternoon explaining why the company has been slow to process echeck withdrawals, a process that has worried and angered players who, in some cases, have waited weeks for a resolution or response.
“Over the course of the last six months, ThriveFantasy was subject to a bank and check fraud scheme that froze one of our key accounts and immediately impacted our ability to process withdrawals,” Weinstein said. “Our finance team has been working feverishly with the bank to recover lost funds, and most importantly, reactivate our ability to satisfy customer withdrawals.
"As a result of the bank fraud, our echeck partner terminated our relationship, revoking our ability to process echeck withdrawals while we work to contract a new provider.”
Weinstein went on to say that the disruptions “impacted the part of our business that we care about the most, ensuring that our customers are paid in a timely manner and have every confidence that Thrive will provide a safe and secure gaming experience no matter what.”
Daily fantasy community speaks out
A number of higher-stakes ThriveFantasy players took to the internet late last week, expressing frustration over their inability to withdraw five-figure balances from their accounts. Their inquiries had largely been met with silence until Tuesday.
“We fully understand it is our responsibility to do right by our community and the DFS industry in general and we do not take this lightly,” Weinstein said. “I take full ownership and apologize for the lack of transparency throughout this process. I thought it could be resolved much quicker than it has been, and for that, I am sorry.”
Weinstein also said that the company has launched internal investigations to ensure that all contest victories were done so in a fair manner.
“Those customers who we determine generated their winning by abusing Thrive's systems, exploiting technical vulnerabilities, and violating our terms of use may not be paid out.”
ThriveFantasy presently operates in 32 states and offers DFS contests across the four major North American professional sports, along with UFC, PGA and a variety of esports games like VALORANT, League of Legends and CS:GO.
Daily fantasy players are undoubtedly wary following the shuttering of No House Advantage last year. NHA unexpectedly ceased operations over the summer after allegedly falling victim to a “payment chargeback scheme” that affected the company’s ability to process withdrawals.
NHA customers were left in the dark about their pending balances until Sept. 21, when NHA came to an account transfer agreement with micro-betting fantasy and sportsbook app Betr.
