Goldwin Casino - Player’s withdrawal was delayed due to verification issues.

I have had an account at Goldwin Casino for Two years (Since May 2022).

I have left the country where my account was setup (Ireland) and had to return to England to care for my sick mother.

I cannot access the account to withdraw the 430 euros. When I tried before I moved the casino asked for an updated proof of address. I provided this and they approved it. Then a week later they asked for a selfie with the proof of address and ID selfie. I provided the selfie of the ID but as I no longer live in the country I could not do the Proof of Address and requested my account closed and balance returned. The casino stopped responding.

I have been fully verified for two years and had numerous deposits and withdrawals (all evidence attached). I have had no issue with the casino until now?

Please can CG help mediate as I cannot access the casino anymore as I am not in the country!

Thanks

Dear stevenespie,

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

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

• Do I understand correctly your winnings were achieved after you moved to England?
• Could you please explain the timeline of your move, the winnings being achieved and the verification process commencing?
• Do I understand the casino asked for a selfie with your Ireland proof of address?
• When did you inform the casino about changing your address of residence?

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

I achieved the winings whilst living in ireland. They were achieved about 3 months ago (Ive had the account since 2022).

I had to come back to england about two weeks ago due to my mother. It was somewhat of a rush due to the circumstances so how was cleared and it ended badly with the landlord. I requested the withdrawal on about the a week before the end of my tenancy in ireland. They then requested an updated Proof of Adress. I sent it in whilst clearing the house. It was all approved.

When I was back in the UK they asked for a selfie with passport, proof of address selfie? Which was weird as everything said it was approved, I have had the account 2 years with multple deposits and withdrawals with no issue.

I informed the casino of the situation and sent them the selife with passport. They then seemed to completely ignore this, request the passport selife AGAIN. AND have asked for a proof of address picture of my UK address and a selfie with my UK proof of addres??? This is seems VERY VERY suspicious as the casino does not operate in the UK (I cannot log into the site), my UK address has never been on file with them from the UK? So I don't know what right they have to ask for any of that or what use that would be as I cannot play at Goldwin anymore and just need the account closed and withdrawal processed? (Which had never been in a problem for over two years)....

These were the selfies I sent.

This was their response....

Hello Steven & Tomas,

Hope you are both well!

I investigated your case and can see that on July 15, 2024 you have stated to our Finance team that you are no longer residing at the address/country which you declared during the registration process.

Given this statement you were asked to provide a new Proof of Address, showing your current residential address and a selfie of yourself holding this new document.

For the Proof of Address you can provide either an utility bill (gas or electricity) or bank statement, not older than 3 months and showing your full name and address.

You are required to keep your account information and profile updated and, once the above mentioned document is received, our Finance team will update your profile accordingly.

After this is done you will need to check the payment methods available to you and place the withdrawal request accordingly. It is also important to remember that for a different country the available payment methods may be different.

With regards,

Eugénie Lacroix

Goldwin Casino is not licsened in the UK.

You cannot operate in the UK legally. I have checked. You are not licensed in the UK by the UK gambling authority. Your site is also not accessible from the UK. I cannot update my account to my mothers UK address as you don't operate here. I therefore need the account closed and balance sent to my skrill.

I have supplied my selfie document twice now. I am attaching them pictures here again. This makes no sense though as you had my sefie picture over two years ago and I have had numerous deposits and withdrawals with no issue...

As I have left Ireland to care for my mother I will no longer be able to play at Goldwin Casino. Please return my balance to my skrill account (Where I have deposited and withdrawn multiple times over the cours of two years). My skrill is stevenespie65@outlook.com.

Hello Steven & Tomas,

Thank you for your reply!

You will need to send the documents that were requested from you.

Once the verification is completed you will be able to withdraw the funds.

We don't have the option to process a payment manually to you. The withdrawal request needs to be placed from your account.

Should you wish to close your account, then this can of course be done once you have withdrawn the remaining funds.

With regards,

Eugénie Lacroix

You are not legally allowed to operate in the UK. I am not sending a UK proof of address and selfie with my UK proof of address when you do not have a license to operate in the UK as I am not updating my address on my Goldwin account to an address in a country that you do not operate. It is against UKGC, UK law and your terms (Your terms are below).

4.2 We make no warranties or representations as to whether your accessing and/or use of the Website or Services is compliant with applicable laws in the jurisdiction in which you are located and you warrant that online gambling is not illegal in your jurisdiction.

4.3 For various legal or commercial reasons, we do not permit accounts to be opened by, or used from, customers based or domiciled in certain jurisdictions. You may not use the Website and/or the Services if you are located in a prohibited jurisdiction.

I have sent three selfies of my ID above. I also emailed 5 to you.

Your website is blocked in the UK by the ISP as you are not licensed. I cannot access your site.

I have left the country where you are licensed. You need to close my account and process my refund as I cannot access your site.

This is very simple.

*I have attached pictures from the UKGC, as well as emails dated as far back as 2022. Showing my account was verified THREE TIMES, my passport, new passport, numerous selfies and three proof of addresses.

Hello Steven & Tomas,

Thank you for your reply!

Until you provide the required documents there is no way a payment will be processed towards you.

Verification is mandatory for all players and all requested documents must be supplied.

With regards,

Eugénie Lacroix

My account has been verified three times since 2022 with my Irish Address.

As per my response above. I am not updating an address to a country where you are not legally allowed to operate. It is against UK Law, the UK gambling commission and it is against your own site terms.

I'm not sure if you are confused here. My account needs to be closed and balance refunded to my skrill as I do not live in Ireland anymore and have moved to a country where you are not legally allowed to operate. You are asking for a proof of address picture and a selfie of me holding a proof of address for an address that has NEVER been registered on my Goldwin account. It has no bearing on my account being verified as it's not associated with my Goldwin account. This is very simply.

I am not sending a UK proof of address and selfie with my UK proof of address when you do not have a license to operate in the UK as I am not updating my address on my Goldwin account to an address in a country that you do not operate. It is against UKGC, UK law and your terms (Your terms are below). You are asking me to break the law.

4.2 We make no warranties or representations as to whether your accessing and/or use of the Website or Services is compliant with applicable laws in the jurisdiction in which you are located and you warrant that online gambling is not illegal in your jurisdiction.

4.3 For various legal or commercial reasons, we do not permit accounts to be opened by, or used from, customers based or domiciled in certain jurisdictions. You may not use the Website and/or the Services if you are located in a prohibited jurisdiction.

I have sent three selfies of my ID above. I also emailed 5 to you.

Your website is blocked in the UK by the ISP as you are not licensed. I cannot access your site.

I have left the country where you are licensed. You need to close my account and process my refund as I cannot access your site.

This is very simple.

Tomas can you please get involved here and advise?

P.S - Picture attached of the last time my account was verified in ireland - (LAST WEEK!)

I have emailed the UKGC to ask what to do in this situation and they have stated that Goldwin are not license in the UK.

Hello Steven & Tomas,

Thank you for your reply!

As you have declared that you no longer are a resident of the country which you provided upon registration, you will be required to provide a new Proof of Address, for your current country of residence, as well as a selfie of yourself holding that Proof of Address.

With regards,

Eugénie Lacroix

I feel very very uncomfortable about this as you do not operate in the UK, I am not updating my address to my UK address, you are not licensed by the UKGC and they have advised me you are operating illegally in the UK.

I have attached my proof of address and two selfies below but I want confirmation these will be deleted by your casino when you have processed my refund and closed my account.

You have had the passport selfies above and they have been emailed.

Again, to remind everyone here to look above, where my account has been verified three times since 2022 with numerous proof of addresses verified, numerous passport pictures, my new passport and numerous passport selfies... I have only had issues now I have moved and requested the account to be closed as I am unable to play anymore due to moving country.

No response to this complaint or the email since friday...

Refund still not made, but the casino has successfully had me breach UK law.

I apologize for not replying sooner.

Dear Goldwin Casino Representative,

Have these documents been accepted? Are there any obstacles to receiving the payout from the casino?

Please let us know.

Hello Tomas,

They have sent the below response -

Thank you for your email!

Please note that the photos you have provided have all been rejected as they are compressed and have a low resolution.

Also, for the Proof of Address we only accept either an utility bill (gas or electricity) or a bank statement issued by a traditional bank in your country of residence (no digital banks or e-money institutions).

To complete the verification please send the following:

- a selfie of yourself holding the passport in high resolution. Please send the original photo taken by you, including the complete metadata information. Note that resized, edited or compressed photos will not be accepted;

- a photo of a valid Proof of Address (gas bill, electricity bill or bank statement, issued by a traditional bank) showing your full name and new residential address. The document needs to be issued in the last 3 months. The photos should be the original one taken by you, including the complete metadata information.;

- a photo of yourself holding the Proof of Address in high resolution. Please send the original photo taken by you, including the complete metadata information. Note that resized, edited or compressed photos will not be accepted;

Awaiting your response,

????

Nothing has been resized or compressed?

What is metadata?

Again, why are we ignoring the fact what they are getting me to do is illegal! They are not allowed to operate in the UK!

I have contacted the UKGC and action fraud about Goldwin offering services to UK players when it is illegal.

I have had a look on your forum and what I have found about this company is horrific.

They are doing this to many players!

See attached.

I have reported this to the UKGC and action fraud

Tomas,

I should make you aware that I had a call this morning with Actionfraud and have had to name Casinoguru in the claim due to the site being hosted here and me sending the complaint thread as evidence in the claim.

Dear stevenespie,

Thanks for the update, I am sorry to hear about these new developments. We have no problems, if the complaint is referenced in complaint resolution of other services.

I will now transfer your complaint to my colleague Peter (peter.m@casino.guru)  who will be at your service. I wish you the best of luck and hope the problem will be resolved to your satisfaction in the near future.  

Thank you.

I haven't referenced Casinoguru negatively, but Actionfraud wanted to have your name as an affiliate.

The casino, like West Casino is openly breaking laws all over the place, having looked through your site and the internet.

I assume action fraud and the UKGC will be in touch with you? I don't know how it works

Hi stevenespie,

I'm taking over your complaint.

Dear Goldwin Casino team,

The pictures stevenespie sent you are clear enough to read and have a satisfactory resolution. They clearly include a selfie of himself holding the passport, a photo of a valid Proof of Address, and a photo of himself holding the Proof of Address in high resolution. I'm not sure what the issue is, especially if the player was verified and was allowed to make deposits and withdrawals in the past.

Hello Tomas,

Thank you for your reply!

We aren't actually certain at this point what the player wants, as he has given contradictory statements.

This is the timeline so far for this case:

• While his account was previously verified, we are required to keep the documentation on file updated, so he was requested to provide a new Proof of Address document on July 04, 2024;
• The player provided the updated Proof of Address, which was verified on July 11, 2024;
• During this information update his account was flagged by our system for additional verification and he was asked to provide selfies of himself holding his Passport and New Proof of Address, on July 12, 2024;
• On July 15, 2024 the player provided a selfie of himself holding his Passport, however he didn't provide one holding the Proof of Address. At this point he claimed that he no longer resides in the country which he declared upon registration;
• This is not a common situation as normally players will announce such changes well in advance so we can assist them with any remaining funds on the account - if that is the case;
• This statement meant that the player was again asked to provide a new Proof of Address, showing his current residence and a selfie of himself holding that Proof of Address;
• The player initially refused to send these documents and only provided them, in low resolution, after this complaint was opened.

The photos he sent, also attached to this thread were rejected for the following reasons:

• The Proof of Address provided is not one of the requested documents (gas bill, electricity bill or bank statement);
• The Photos provided are edited and not the original photos taken by the player and are stripped of the metadata. For this verification we require that the player sends the original photo taken, without any resizing or modification and that the metadata is preserved, showing the date in which it was taken and the information regarding the device used to take the photo and, if applicable, any location data. This is standard procedure so we can be sure the photos are taken now and that no modification have been made to them.

Once these are received, we will then inform the player if he will still be able to use our service or if his account will be terminated.

With regards,

Eugénie Lacroix

Thank you Goldwin Casino team for the explanation.

Dear stevenespie,

This should be an easy fix. I suggest you take a picture of your bank statement (regular bank account) and send the original pictures with the metadata. If they are not available, take new ones with your phone. The metadata should be automatically added. Please make sure that they are of the best possible quality and send them in the original size. Let me know when this is done.

Dear stevenespie,

We are extending the timer by 7 days. Please, be aware that in case you fail to respond in the given time frame or don’t require any further assistance, we will reject the complaint.

My bank statement is not registered to the same address.

Are we also just choosing to ignore the ‘casino’ is breaking the law by trying to operate in the UK?

I have table matched the money out.

You should be ashamed as you are allowing this casino to break the law. I had to name you in my action fraud report.

Dear stevenespie,

To be honest, I don't understand your argument about the casino operating in the UK illegally. You stated above that the casino's website can't be accessed from the UK which means it doesn't offer any services there. They only let you play when you resided in Ireland, so the whole argument makes no sense. Secondly, if you can't provide a bank statement, is there any other utility bill you can send?

Firstly you have made a bunch of inferences without asking questions. That’s unprofessional and makes you look foolish. MY ISP blocks the casino. Not ALL UK ISPs block it. The casino, just like West is operating illegally in the UK. This has been confirmed by the the UKGC. Does that make sense to you ‘genius’?

Ive table Matched my money out thanks to advice on another forum.

close this as unresolved. You didn’t help at all.

Your site has been named in the action fraud claim.

Dear stevenespie,

Sorry for the misunderstanding. Your statements about the casino being blocked in the UK made the impression that it wasn't available in the UK at all. You keep focusing on the fact that the casino doesn't have a UK license. Why did you decide to register in a casino that doesn't have a UKGC license if this seems to be your priority? Secondly, you registered while living in Ireland. Is the UKGC license required by law for the operators providing casino services in Ireland? It seems that you are focused more on the license than the actual problem which is the verification of your account. The casino has the right to request additional verification from players to make sure that the funds will be sent to the right person. The metadata on your pictures were deleted and you couldn't provide any utility bill or a regular bank statement. All you need to do is take and send the pictures again in a way that will keep the metadata for example as attached files to your email. Did you upload the files or did you send the files by email? If your bank account is registered with a different address, the address can always be changed or you can set up a new one in one day. If you provide these documents as requested, we see no reason why the casino shouldn't pay you.

Dear stevenespie,

We are extending the timer by 7 days. Please, be aware that in case you fail to respond in the given time frame or don’t require any further assistance, we will reject the complaint.

Lol these messages are absurd.

I already stated I table matched the money out.

Do not close this as ‘Resolved’ you didn’t help at all. You shouldn’t get any ‘credit’

Dear stevenespie,

If you somehow managed to withdraw your funds, we consider the issue to be resolved. I recommend withdrawing your funds from a casino before changing addresses to avoid complications, particularly if proving your new address could be difficult. Thank you for using our Complaint Resolution Center.