craps casino cheque stolen and cashed

[lindrules]

Hi fellows,
I'd like to share with you my recent experience with Playtech's craps-casino:
On my second deposit to the casino I've won 4113 GBP (with a 25% bonus of 25 GBP).
The casino had sent me a cheque and disregarded my protest (I don't want everybody
or anybody to know I'm gambling online). After a while when the cheque was not showing I contacted them so many times... for cancelling the cheque ! and finally I got the casino's response - that the cheque has already been cashed !
unfortunately it wasn't me who cashed it ! someone just picked it on the way and made a nice
deal with it !
Now what can I do about it ?
I've sent them a demand to re-issue the funds to my account and transfer it to me as I like !
of course no reply for almost a week now...
Any idea ?
Lind.

[maxd]

This sounds vaguely familiar to me. Anyone else run across similar circumstances?

[BBKPoker]

How did someone cash a cheque that wasn't in their name? UK banks don't have a third party cheque system, and most I would imagine if Playtech cheques are anything like checks I've gotten from Playtech prior to the US withdrawal, they say that they may only be cashed by the bearer (or whatever the term is for the person the check is made out too).

[anniemac]

I am in the US and don't know anything about UK banking. However, I would contact the casino again and ask them for a copy of the check, front and back, and if they can't or won't do that, at least ask them what bank or where the check was cashed. It is possible that you know the person who cashed the check. Maybe if you ask for this information they will be a little more receptive and won't think you cashed it yourself and are trying to double dip them.

Here in the US it is harder to get a check cashed than to get married. Identity documents, thumb prints, pictures. They ask for everything but a health certificate. Banks won't cash checks unless they are from that bank and the only way you can cash a check from someone else at your own bank is to have enough money in your account to cover it and then they put a hold until that check clears. However, stolen checks being cashed happens all the time so there must be a way to do it.

Hope you get it straightened out. I don't know how much money that is in US dollars but I think it's alot.

[chuchu59]

This sounds vaguely familiar to me. Anyone else run across similar circumstances?

Yes, this happened to me 4 years ago. It was 1cnp.com, one of the worst rogues. The difference was that they claimed they sent the cheque which never came and that they would need 6 months to reissue one if no one cashed it. needless to say, the cheque was never sent out and they didnt respond to me later on.

[maxd]

Yes, that might have been it. If I recall correctly they ran this scam on a lot of folks. What a gutless thing to do!

Anyway, if you're still in contact with the casino ask them to send you a photocopy of the canceled check. Who knows, maybe you'll recognize the signature.

In the meantime I'll see what I can do for you. We are talking about Craps.com, yes? If so, they're Kahnawake based so their rep is where we'll start.

PS. I've changed the subject heading a bit for clarification.

[cyprean]

Yes, this happened to me 4 years ago. It was 1cnp.com, one of the worst rogues. The difference was that they claimed they sent the cheque which never came and that they would need 6 months to reissue one if no one cashed it. needless to say, the cheque was never sent out and they didnt respond to me later on.

Sweet trick.

However even though Craps.com is a playtech casino, I wouldn't think they would sink that low.

Perhaps Craps.com could provide more details where and when the cheque was cashed?

[maxd]

Perhaps Craps.com could provide more details where and when the cheque was cashed?

Yes, that's why I suggested seeing a copy of the cancelled check. That way everyone knows it's on the up-and-up. It's all too easy to say "uh, ya, we sent a check .. and someone else cashed it .. bummer, eh?"

[loganberry]

The UK Banking system can be very peculiar. To have a cheque re-issued if it has been cashed is not necessarily that straight forward these days.

The details below are from the 'Your Money' section of the Saturday Telegraph (URL link to article). Essentially what the article is saying is that it is dangerous these days to receive a cheque through the post.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/mai...mjessica17.xml

An account had been opened fraudulently with Nationwide with this Bank of Scotland cheque from Norwich Union. The money was taken out and the account then closed.

The cheque had not been doctored so Bank of Scotland, part of the HBOS group, could not have known there was a problem.

Nationwide refused to accept liability, saying the fraudster produced appropriate identification and everything seemed above board. The building society had approached the police, Bank of Scotland and Norwich Union to investigate the matter and co-operated with everyone.

Hopefully you will have much better luck. I will keep my fingers, my toes, and anything else that moves crossed. Good luck!

[vinylweatherman]

UK banks are on "red alert" for this since the loss of some 25Million sets of personal details in the post. This makes it highly unlikely this fraud was committed in a regular UK bank. It may have occured at a cheque cashing place, often found in deprived areas, and they would be more easily fooled by fake documents. A cheque that size could easily be stolen from the Royal Mail at this time of year, as this festive season exposes a significant weakness in the Royal Mail, not that things are guaranteed the rest of the time.
The Royal Mail have shed so many vetted staff, that they have to rely on agency staff to cater for the Xmas rush, and this is how organised crime gets involved by planting people in sorting offices through the agencies. These people steal items that look to be of high value, especially cash contained within Christmas cards (the easiest of all to launder and cover up). Cheques come a close second, especially high value ones.
For a £4000+ cheque, the expense of several hundred pounds for fake passports, birth certificates etc for opening a fake account are well worth it.

This is a major fraud, not a "petty crime", and would attract a custodial sentence. Since the casino defied the player by insisting on payment by this insecure method, they must take responsibilty for what happened, or forever suffer the suspicion that they were somehow involved in the fraud.

Perhaps if the casino were made aware that this was being investigated by police as a serious fraud, they would realise that full cooperation with the investigation is the only viable course of action given that Kahnawake are looking to join the UK whitelisted juristictions. They cannot possibly think a player who has had £4000 stolen will simply "go away" without first applying some SERIOUS pressure.