Someone Used a Hair Dryer to Win $34,000 on Polymarket Weather Bets

A Polymarket user identified only as “xX25Xx” won approximately $34,000 by betting on Paris temperatures — and then allegedly walking to an unguarded weather sensor near Charles de Gaulle Airport and pointing a hair dryer at it.

The temperature reading spiked 4°C in twelve minutes. No other weather station in the Paris area recorded the anomaly. The winning bet was 20× larger than the user’s typical wager. Humidity plunged simultaneously — consistent with hot, dry air from an appliance, not weather. Engadget

Météo-France filed a criminal complaint. French gendarmerie opened an investigation. Polymarket’s response: they moved the sensor to a new location. No refunds were issued to other bettors. NPR

Discord user Sakuku’s review: “The good old ‘blowdryer with heat setting on the publicly-accessible weather monitoring station near the airport’ scam. It’s a classic.”