GERMAN PLAYER ACCUSED OF PLANTING MALWARE
Thursday, November 3, 2011 : Keep an eye on your laptop at live tourneys
The German poker information portal Hochgepokert.com has created a furore on top poker information forum twoplustwo and the information site High Stakes DB with allegations that a German player has been up to no good at live tournaments, inserting malware onto other players' laptops when they're not looking in order to cheat them in future online competitions.
The allegations claim that the malware enabled the London-based German cheat to see the hole cards of his opponents in subsequent matches, and was inserted via a USB memory stick that disgorged its tricky content in seconds.
Hochgepokert said at least two European players were known to have been prejudiced by the fraudster; one lost $350 000 and the other $40 000 to the cheat, who has been named as Maximilian A by the German site, triggering twoplustwo speculation that the perp is Max Ashkar, a high stakes online player who uses the handle "mexx86".
The duo were placed at risk whilst attending a live tourney in Baden Austria, it is claimed.
Hochgepokert reported that the two victims subsequently cornered "Maximilian A" in his hotel room, where they claim he confessed, later denying that he had done so when the police were called.
It is not presently known how many other players may have been targets for the cheat, although some players have speculated it could be in the double digits. Poker players' who may have left their laptops unattended, even for a short while, at live tourneys in Europe could be at risk.
Poker pro Bernhard Braumandl claimed on twoplustwo this week that the alleged cheater "scammed our house for 100k+ alone, all together he made at least 2 million probably a lot more."
Braumandl accused Ashkar of attempting to befriend every well-known poker player on Facebook to target potential scams.
"If he ever was near your laptop/pc since February this year there's a high chance he scammed you as well," Braumandl warned.
