this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2026
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French police are investigating suspicions that a hairdryer may have been used to tamper with official weather readings to make thousands of dollars in Polymarket bets.

Temperature readings at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport have unexpectedly spiked twice in the last month, reaching levels much higher than expected.

On both days, gamblers on Polymarket, the world’s biggest prediction market, appear to have made huge sums by betting on unlikely weather patterns. The site relied on readings from the Charles de Gaulle temperature sensor.

Météo-France, the country’s official weather agency, said it had complained to police after noticing a change to one of its temperature sensors.

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[–] Gsus4@mander.xyz 73 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah, that js what happens when betting culture gets out of hand: facts just get in the way of winning.

[–] ThePantser@sh.itjust.works 49 points 2 weeks ago

Weird its like maybe you shouldn't bet on things that can easily be tampered with by the betters. I don't feel bad for anyone who loses money on those sites. They should never have been allowed to exist.

[–] elvith@feddit.org 26 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 4 points 1 week ago

Damn. Good that important things like oil futures are safe from this!!

[–] frustrated_phagocytosis@fedia.io 13 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Wait until people start kneecapping sports players to win bets

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 week ago

Tonya Harding, please pick up a blue courtesy phone.

[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] Akasazh@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Nothing in the article says his assassination was betting related...

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Polymarkets is another one of those sites that you know will be gone by the end of the year

[–] Sludgehammer@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago

You'd think so, but this is also the dark universe where Donald Trump got a second term.

[–] Baggie@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 week ago

I really hope so, this shit is ridiculous

[–] Hubi@feddit.org 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Donald Trump Jr., a member of the Trump family, has taken on an advisory role at Polymarket

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymarket#Relationship_with_Trump_family

You really think so?

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 week ago

This is the kind of site that soon enough will be in the news for something horrendously bad because the owner or a group of users decided that the law is just a mere suggestion to them. I've seen this happening too many times already

Now I wonder what would happen if people bet on a Republican victory in the US midterms.

Or, more ambitiously: "Donald John Trump will NOT be sentenced for Epstein related stuff before the end of the decade."

Basically bett- ahem- "investing" against the event one actually wants to happen to make it more likely to happen (and the worst case scenario is that one miswrites or misreads the bet and messes up. Anything else - good thing happens, one wins, or Polymarket goes down for good - is some form of win.)

[–] artyom@piefed.social 8 points 1 week ago

shakes 8 ball "Seems unlikely"

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Why? Who is going to shut them down? The people making insider bets on the US government???

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

They will fuck it up themselves. Somebody soon enough will do something that will spark such an outrage that the site will get shutdown and or sites like it will be prohibited, or the owner will get himself arrested. These sort of sites aren't exactly known for stable geniusses at the helm

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

I wish I could believe that but I can't find a reason to do so. Do you have an example of a site like this going under? Because as far as I know, legal online betting is pretty new and the big players are all still around

[–] LodeMike@lemmy.today 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The bet was not $34k that was the winnings.

[–] artyom@piefed.social 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

"to win $34,000 bet"

Not sure where the clarification is needed.

[–] LodeMike@lemmy.today 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Usually what you bet is what you pay upfront.

[–] artyom@piefed.social 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

"the bet" can also be the act of wagering money in a dispute.

[–] resipsaloquitur@lemmy.cafe 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Umm, ackshually, these are prediction markets based on futures contracts, not gambling.

Very legitimate business activity.