Fairspin Casino - Player's account closed after KYC issue.

The casino allows VPN usage on its website. It allows deposits before KYC. I made several deposits. When I won over $19,000 and tried to withdraw, the casino requested KYC. I contacted support several times to let them know I was not able to complete the KYC due to errors. Also, my country was not showing on there. After a few minutes, my account was closed and all funds were wiped out. I pleaded with the casino to please allow me to complete the KYC process but unfortunately they claimed their decision was final and I couldn't fight it in any way. This money is life changing and I am willing to be extremely compliant with the casinos requests. I just need someone to help me, please!

Dear Thecooldude97,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint. I’m sorry to hear about your negative experience with Fairspin Casino.

Please allow me to ask you a few questions, so I can better understand the situation. 

• Could you please advise if your casino profile was filled with the correct personal information?
• Could you please send me the correspondence between you and the casino regarding the issue?
• My email is tomas@casino.guru

I hope we will be able to help you to resolve this issue as soon as possible. Thank you very much in advance for your reply.

Best regards,

Tomas

Hi Tomas,

Thank you so much for your help. Here are the answers to some of your questions.

Could you please advise if your casino profile was filled with the correct personal information?

Before withdrawing, I put in the correct profile information such as a name (changeable at any time). I also had the Correct birthday (unchangeable after sign up.) The address was left blank.

In summary, yes, everything was correct.

Could you please send me the correspondence between you and the casino regarding the issue?

Sure thing, please see the attachments in your email.

Thanks for your message.

I checked the website, trying to access it with VPN from the US and this is the result:

moreover, the casino lists the United States as a restricted country:

13.1. Absolute Restriction. NetEnt will not permit NetEnt Casino Games to be supplied to any entity that operates in any of the following jurisdictions (irrespective of whether or not NetEnt Casino Games are being supplied by the entity in that jurisdiction) without the appropriate licenses: Belgium, Bulgaria, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, Mexico, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America.

Lastly, we would consider the casino discourages the use of VPN:

Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, in order to mitigate and prevent illegal or fraudulent activity through use of the Website and Fairspin services, We may, at our discretion, request that You cease to and/or refrain from making use of a VPN or Proxy while using the Website. If suspicious, illegal or fraudulent activity is detected on an account while a VPN or Proxy is or was in use, we shall have the right to block the said account and funds held thereon, based on our assessment of the activity in question.

While not outright forbidding the use of a VPN, if you used VPN to circumvent a country block set in place by the casino, we can't unfortunately help you pursue the case, since casino rules were breached and account verification couldn't be complete.

Please let me know if there are other circumstances I overlooked, otherwise I'll be forced to reject your complaint.

Tomas

Firstly, the website is accessible with a VPN if you select a VPN from a non-restricted area.(change the country)

Secondly, on the home page of Fairspin Casino, you'll find "The advantages of gambling with Bitcoin." Under the section "Anonymity" it clearly states, "Bitcoin transactions are anonymous... This is particularly useful if you live in a country where online gambling is restricted or prohibited [Like the United States]."

This message promotes the use of Fairspin from restricted areas. The message allows gambling via Bitcoin from restricted areas.

Even under "Global Accessibility" it states, "Bitcoin is a global currency that can be used by anyone, anywhere in the world. This means that you can gamble with bitcoin at online casinos that are based in other [restricted] countries..."

Although this case may be ruled against my favor, I have still sent the complaint to "CEG" for review with further facts. It has been accepted and is currently ongoing. If you'd like to keep the case open until we hear from the regulator, I'll keep you updated.

Thank you.

I understand players want to keep their presence on the internet protected, nevertheless, we can't argue in your favor if the consequences of your VPN usage were circumvention of a block of a restricted country. This usage of the VPN led to a breach of rules in this online casino where under its rules United States is a restricted country and the restriction is enforced by an IP block.

I wish you the best of luck with your complaint submitted to the regulator, however, despite your wish to keep the complaint open, in our view, the complaint is unjustified and will be rejected.