Question about Gambling websites with Curaçao license using incorrect Merchant Category code (page 724)

This Destream guy is a piece of work ! he has flagged all the reviews again just reword to get them live again:

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/destream.net

I didn’t have these but I have taken a look is this him basically admitting to the illegal gambling?

Reply from destream

A day ago

Hello, . 

We understand that you and other users found the easiest way to attack our company and get refunds. 

Have you got a email address for these please?

For what site?

Destream

No sorry - these haven’t been on any of my transactions

Try this? [email protected]

Thank you

It is a strange one ! not professional anyway just sounds like a scammer under pressure 😂

You have no chance of getting a refund by the way !

You must think people are stupid here. Take your scamming ass elsewhere

Hi, have you heard from TRNDBM?

I’m writing to you from Spain and I really appreciate you sharing your experience. I’m currently going through a very similar situation and it gives me hope to hear that you managed to get your money back.

In my case, I made several transactions to an online casino called Wazamba, which is not authorized to operate in Spain. This website has been blocked by the Spanish gambling authority (DGOJ) because it lacks a proper license. Despite this, I was able to deposit money and gamble using my Santander credit cards.

What makes my case more serious is that I’ve been officially self-excluded from gambling in Spain since 2020. We have a legal tool called the Registro General de Interdicciones de Acceso al Juego (RGIAJ) — a national register that ensures people with gambling problems are blocked from accessing gambling platforms. Once you’re in this register, all licensed gambling sites in Spain must block your access by law. So these transactions should have never happened.

My bank is also Santander, and I’m trying to get them to open a formal dispute with Mastercard. However, they keep saying that the transactions were made "voluntarily" and that they can’t help — even though the merchant is illegal here.

Could you please share any tips or key arguments that helped you succeed with your chargeback? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again, and congrats on recovering your money — it really means a lot to people like me.

Best regards,

Daniel

Hi, do you have any news about this merchant?

Hello everyone,

I’m writing from Spain and I hope someone here can provide some guidance on my situation.

Between December 2024 and April 2025, I made multiple transactions using my Santander credit card to a gambling website called Wazamba. I later discovered that this operator is illegal in Spain—it does not have a license from our national gambling authority (DGOJ), and the site is currently blocked in the country.

Additionally, I’ve been officially self-excluded from all gambling sites in Spain since 2020 through a government registry called the Registro General de Interdicciones de Acceso al Juego (RGIAJ). This is a legal measure that prevents people with gambling addiction issues from accessing any gambling services licensed in Spain.

Despite this, I was still able to gamble on this unlicensed website, which has created serious financial and emotional consequences. My bank (Santander) so far refuses to initiate a formal chargeback process with Mastercard, stating that I made the transactions voluntarily. I am trying to insist on a dispute based on the illegality of the merchant and the fact that I should not have been able to play due to my legal exclusion.

Do you have any advice, experience, or key arguments that could help make my chargeback more likely to succeed? I would greatly appreciate any insight.

Thank you in advance!

Daniel G.

I know that's not the main topic here, but can you recommend me a new bank as HSBC kicked me out?

Hi Daniel all the info will be on here you try to raise then if it fails raise a complaint they did mine as incorrect mcc but some are saying they do goods not received I also got help from gamcare therapy sessions which the bank said swayed them that I was genuinely approaching my problem and I mentioned other people were getting them done so why not me etc just obvious things really plus I picked holes in complaint replies and these were upheld no magic formulae really..

Negative feedback posted 😉

Welcome to the club of losers. But you're at the right place; Paul is the biggest of us all.

Loads of them mate just google it for deals