Stake Casino - The player's requested a refund.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to you today to file a complaint against Stake Casino (Stake.com). Stake is a cryptocurrency casino which holds an Antillephone Curaçao Gaming license (8048/JAZ).

The grounds to my complaint are that Stake's Customer Due Diligence (CDD), Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) processes are insufficient and in breach of the license requirements and Curaçao law, specifically the NOIS and regulations specified by the Curaçao Gaming Control Board. With the insufficient processes in place I was able to create a new account even though I am self excluded permanently with Stake (Since March 28th 2020) and deposit a large sum of money over a short period of time with no identity verification checks carried out at any stage. In total, my deposits less any withdrawals made totaled $87,322.37 USD. I am seeking a refund of the full amount due to the failure on stake's part to collect the required relevant CDD, KYC and AML information which would have prevented a self excluded patron from creating a further account and depositing this amount of money. 

My first Stake.com Account has been blocked due to the fact that I have been underaged at the time of opening the Account. When I opened the other account (the one im talking about in this dispute) and lost all the sums, I was still underaged. But Stake.com does not seem to care about that fact and they also have not asked for any verification (which they should, especially with deposits and withdrawals around $500.000 (accumulated)). 

I will summarize my complaint briefly below:

1.     Failure to perform the required KYC, CDD and AML checks. Required by Law and License. I was able to sign up to Stake, deposit in excess of $572,000 USD, withdraw in excess of $485,000 and wager over $2,161,887 in a 13-month period without any identity verification checks being carried out.

2.     After I had uploaded my documents unsolicited, my account got blocked due to multi-accounting (my previous account has been blocked way longer)

Proposed Resolution:

I am seeking to be put in the same position I was prior to creating this account and by my calculations that would mean a refund of $87,322.37 USD in the cryptocurrency in that it has been lost (or the equivalent in Bitcoin), however I am happy for Stake to check these amounts again since these number are only from my own researches.

I have attached an Excel spreadsheet that is showing the overall profit for each Cryptocurrency. 

Hello NielsGambling,

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

Was there any refund provided after closing your first account? Do the casino know about your second account and that you should not be able to play? Is your second account still active?

Be sure to contact the casino first with this issue.

Looking forward to your answer.

Regards,

Nick

Hello. No refund has been provided.

The casino now knows that this is my second account because I wanted to verify myself and then they banned it because I had that first account (no kyc required with ~500.000$ in deposits and withdrawals).

My account is not active anymore.

Thank you NielsGambling for all the information. I will now forward your complaint to my colleague Tomas who will be assisting you from now on.

Wish you best luck resolving it.

Regards,

Nick

Hello Thomas,

i have e-mailed you on tomas@casino.guru with the access to personal data according to Art. 15 GDPR i have requested at Stake.com.

In addition, I have attached their response and the deposit and withdrawal list, they attached, as well as a screenshot from a chat between me and my VIP Manager showing once again, that Stake is not doing anything to prevent addicts from gambling with money that they can't afford to lose. I think my message should have alerted them, but they did not care.

Also, in their response to my data request, they said, that they attached the conversations between me and the casino, but they haven't.

They have also not attached my ID, which I needed to upload multiple times (ID front & back, Selfie holding my ID)

I hope to hear from you soon. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask (of course).

Hello NielsGambling,

I went over the details of the case and will do my best to help you. I would like the representatives of Stake Casino to join the discussion and provide an explanation and comment on the player's request for a refund.

Dear NielsGambling,

I am very sorry about the whole situation, unfortunately, we believe you are not entitled to receive the refund. Since you have deliberately provided incorrect personal information in order to enter the casino system at the point of depositing money, their options to accommodate your request have run out.

You should enter only correct and truthful personal information into the casino systems at all times and inform them about any changes in personal information.

After careful consideration, I am forced to reject your complaint.

If you do not agree with our decision, you may file an official complaint at the licensing authority of the casino via certria@gaminglicences.com