Izibet Casino - Player's deposit confiscated over a verification issue.

I signed up to the casino to put on some bets during the World Cup at the end of last year.

I made a deposit of 100 EUR but had not yet placed any bets when they contacted me asking to provide verification documents.

I had not requested a withdrawal, had not placed a bet. I am verified at multiple gambling institutions and have always done so by uploading my documents to the website directly using a secure form.

Izibet on the other hand wanted me to send the documents via an unsecured email. Indeed they would not send my personal data to me without protecting it yet expect me to send it to them in this insecure manner.

I refused and requested that they provide a secure upload of which I would be happy to send the mentioned documents to verify one self.

Furher to this, I submitted a GDPR request to them last year, it was ignored and never settled despite the law. I sent a reminder to them about this which again was completely ignored by the company of which I have today submitted a complaint to the ICO in Malta.

Beyond this, I also previously submitted a request to the ADR they provide (also based in Malta) and again no response was received from this process either. As such as well as the complaint made to the ICO for the breach in law, I am ready to submit a complaint to the MGA.

I ask that you team here can find a way to mediate and settle this issue. At the end of the day I no longer have any interest to bet or play with such a company and just want the 100 EUR that they have effectively stolen from me returned.

It's a small amount that I have not missed much over the past 10-11 months but there is a principle behind it.

Hello 4jcjjhq6kv,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint and I'm really sorry to hear about your issue with Izibet Casino. Please allow me to ask you a few more question before we would move forward.

Could you please advise since when exactly is the verification process ongoing? Isn't it possible to upload your verification documents directly to your casino account?

Unfortunately, we are unable to handle complaints related to GDPR issues. If you wish to pursue your case, we recommend that you contact the appropriate authorities instead of contacting Casino.Guru. While we always strive to assist players who have been affected by unfair casino practices, GDPR laws are beyond our area of expertise.

Looking forward to your answer.

Regards,

Nick

Thanks for your response on this.

The original request was made on 21st November 2022 days after signing up. There is no such option to upload my documents on the site.

Thank you 4jcjjhq6kv for all the information provided. I will now forward your complaint to my colleague Natalia (natalia.b@casino.guru) who will be assisting you from now on. Also please forward the answer, if any came, from the ADR of the casino or any other relevant communication between you and the casino to my colleague's e-mail.

Wish you best luck resolving it.

Regards,

Nick

Hi 4jcjjhq6kv,

I've just reviewed your case and am sorry to hear about these verification issues. I will try to help you by contacting the casino. We'll see what can be done when they reply.

Dear Izibet Casino, I'd like to invite you to join this conversation and participate in the resolution of the player's complaint. Could you please share more information regarding the case? Would you please specify how the verification process is done on your platform? Have you ever reacted to the player's GDPR request?

I'm looking forward to hearing from you. In case of any supporting evidence, feel free to send it to my email natalia.b@casino.guru.

Kind regards,

Natalia

Dear 4jcjjhq6kv, we have received a response from the casino representative. According to them, you were unwilling to cooperate and provide the documents necessary for the KYC, so the casino is unable to verify your account and keeps your funds blocked until the verification is conducted.

Furthermore, we have received a copy of the reply from MADRE, which rejected your complaint, since the casino has the legal right to request documents for verification.

We would like to advise you to cooperate fully with the casino. This is quite a normal practice that players need to send their documents to the email address of the casino, which is a secure channel, as far as we are talking about the casino that is MGA licensed and doesn't use Gmail as their email domain.

As for the GDPR request you settled last year, regrettably, we are unable to fulfill your request for a comprehensive report of your deposits and withdrawals from the casino. Casinos are typically not required to store and provide this specific data, and we lack the legal authority to compel them to change their policy in this regard.

It is not a secure channel hence most other casinos do not do this.

The casino takes the documents from the email then uploads them to their secure system. Do they then delete the emails? Do they ensure or even advise people that send them to delete them from their side incase they are hacked? It's just irresponsible regardless of the domain they use not being gmail it is a third parties email server where they stay for this brief period until uploaded they upload them securely.

I have maintained since day one that I happy to upload the requested documentation and will do so when there is an option for them to be uploaded to their website like any other company that cares about their clients online safety and identify theft.

With regards to GDPR you are incorrect in accordance with law, they are obliged to provide me with the information I had requested in line with Chapter 3, Section 2, I know that is not your remit but casinos are obliged to provide this as with any other data controller - don't just take them at their unreliable word.

Most interestingly the casino representative didn't reply themselves but asked you to shut me down for them seems to be abnormal with most casinos taking the chance to explain their actions in a correct manner.

Not to mind, it's only a few quid. I made my point and everyone can see to avoid this pathetic company.

Dear 4jcjjhq6kv, thank you for your reply. I see your point here, there are casinos that allow players to upload documents directly on the website, but, unfortunately, it is not the case with Izibet's system. I'm afraid, that we cannot continue resolving your complaint, since we aren't able to change the way the casino's website works and force them to create a way to accept documents via the website when it's simply not enforced by their platform.

In order to avoid such situations in the future, I can only recommend you find out about the KYC verification procedure from support before you register and/or deposit at any other online casinos, since there are plenty of them that accept documents only via email.

With regard to GDPR, it is indeed out of our area of expertise, as was previously stated by my colleague Nick.

Anyway, you can still try to file a complaint with the licensing authority - MGA - https://www.mga.org.mt/player-hub/lodge-a-complaint/. The Gaming Authority has more options and tools to help players.

Due to the aforementioned reasons, this complaint will now be rejected. Thank you for your understanding, I am sorry we could not be of more help on this occasion. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you run into any issues with this or any other casino in the future.

Regards,

Natalia