united-states gambling
Is it legal to use a friend&#39;s online gambling account with their consent?
<p>In the United States, assuming a friend creates an online gambling account legally, and gives you full consent to use the account, are there any potential legal ramifications? It will likely be against the online casino's terms and conditions (giving them the right to ban the account, which is fine). But with written consent from the account owner, could this be considered identity theft or fraud?</p>

<h2>It could be <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ca190082/s192e.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">fraud</a></h2>
<p><a href="/questions/tagged/new-south-wales" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;new-south-wales&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;new-south-wales&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="new-south-wales-container">new-south-wales</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>192E Fraud</strong></p>
<p>(1) A person who, by any deception, dishonestly--</p>
<p>(a) …, or</p>
<p>(b) obtains any financial advantage or causes any financial disadvantage,</p>
<p>is guilty of the offence of fraud.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The use is dishonest, however, whether financial advantage comes by reason of the deception is critical.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/5dae75dce4b0c3247d712821" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>R v Fletcher</em> [2019] NSWDC 587</a>, the accused was acquitted by directed verdict of using other people’s accounts to bet on horse and greyhound races. The acquittal flowed from the fact that the deception gave him the opportunity to financially gain but it did not cause the financial gain - the horse or dog winning did that and that was unrelated to the deception.</p>
<p>In this case, if the casino games bet on are pure chance
like roulette or sic-bo then an acquittal on the same basis must follow. However, if the game is one of mixed chance and skill like blackjack or poker, then the identity of the player is arguably crucial information and the deception is material to the financial gain.</p>
<p>In other jurisdictions, fraud statutes might refer to a benefit or an opportunity, rather than a financial gain. In those jurisdictions the ability to place the bets would be fraud.</p>
<p>Notwithstanding, the online casino has more options than simply suspending the account. They will almost certainly have a contractural right to void any and all bets made through the fraud and they can probably do it selectively - they cancel the bets you won and leave the bets you lost.</p>

<p><a href="/questions/tagged/washington" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;washington&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;washington&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="washington-container">washington</a></p>
<p>It is <strong>not</strong> <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9a.60&amp;full=true" rel="nofollow noreferrer">fraud</a> (version 1). That crime is limited to a set of specific acts: forgery, obtaining a signature by duress, impersonation, false certification (about legal documents), mental health advance directives, and academic credentials. Version 2 of <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9.45&amp;full=true" rel="nofollow noreferrer">fraud</a> (criminal statutes were split into two titles, 9 and 9a) gives an additional list of specific acts (substitution of child, real estate fraud, auctions, removal of property, measurement of commodities etc), none of which pertain to using someone's online account.</p>
<p>Laws pertaining to gambling are in <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9.46&amp;full=true" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ch. 9.46 RCW</a>, however these are designed to prevent crooks from running gambling operations. The &quot;end-user&quot; restriction is against <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9.46&amp;full=true#9.46.196" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;cheating&quot;</a>, which is to</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(1) Employ or attempt to employ any device, scheme, or artifice to
defraud any other participant or any operator; (2) Engage in any act,
practice, or course of operation as would operate as a fraud or deceit
upon any other participant or any operator; (3) Engage in any act,
practice, or course of operation while participating in a gambling
activity with the intent of cheating any other participant or the
operator to gain an advantage in the game over the other participant
or operator; or (4) Cause, aid, abet, or conspire with another person
to cause any other person to violate subsections (1) through (3) of
this section.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There is not uniform statutory definition of criminal fraud, therefore the common law definition would have to be applied to know whether a particular act constituted &quot;cheating&quot; by being &quot;fraud&quot;. However, one of the fundamental requirements of fraud is &quot;dishonesty&quot;, which is the assertion as true of a matter known to be false. In using another person's account, you are not asserting that you are the account-holder (analogously, when you use another person's credit card with permission, you are not falsely asserting that you are that person).</p>
