Ongame Network demanding your passport

[Steve Russo]

Forget about sending a copy of your driver's license to prove your identity -- the casinos belonging to the Ongame Network are now demanding a photocopy of your passport.

Of course, with some 30 innocent people being named in Dubai as killers simply because passports with their names and passport numbers were forged and used by the real assassins, sending anyone a copy of your passport is opening yourself to serious problems. (And, of course, if you don't have a passport you won't be able to withdraw your money at all.)

For more details, see this report on Gambling Grumbles.

(Full disclosure: I am the manager of Gambling Grumbles.)

[Roanan]

I wouldn't send these people ANYTHING.

Not copies of your ID, your money, NOTHING.


They are tightrope walking the edge of the rogue pit just ready to fall in.


I have been inundated lately with TopGame SPAM that I can not opt out of because the links are always broken.

So much so that I recently sent off a blanket email to every TopGame operator and the parent company blasting them for their crooked shenanigans, from removing wilds and bonus symbols from the reels, to privacy violations and sharing my information.

I also demanded all accounts be closed and all SPAM to cease.


Not only did they refuse to respond, they've increased the amount of spam they're sending me.


(I hope SpamCop hurries up and gets their email privileges shut down)

[Wildfire7]

A passport should only be requested as an option where an alternative photo ID is given, such as a drivers licence or National ID card.

In the UK passports are no longer the once secure document they used to be. A couple of phone calls and pretty much most people could get a fake one made up for a price.

Unless they have means to verify a passport then it is a pointless exercise. Assuming they are able to verify a passport then so what, all it proves is the person is of legal age to gamble and lives somewhere in the country the passport is from.

A passport proves little on its own, it is a travel document thats all.
If a players has no desire to travel then they should not be penalised because they cannot provide one. Instead offer an alternative photo ID, so as not to exclude and alienate the customer.

If this draconian practice is passport only, then at least make sure the player knows before he makes that first deposit.

Mike

[KasinoKing]

If this draconian practice is passport only, then at least make sure the player knows before he makes that first deposit.

Quite right!

I don't have a problem with sending scans of my passport to casinos I trust - and if I didn't trust them I wouldn't be playing there in the first place.
I must have sent mine off to about 10 places.

Actually, that's pretty much all it's good for these days; 2 weeks ago I drove from the UK through France, Belgium, Holland, Belgium again, Germany & the Czech Republic, and we weren't asked to show our passports anywhere, not once!
The only time we were asked for them was when coming back from France to the UK.

KK

[lnspin]

Pretty Soon your going to need to send a vial of your blood for dna tests before a withdrawal is processed

[Steve Russo]

I don't have a problem with sending scans of my passport to casinos I trust - and if I didn't trust them I wouldn't be playing there in the first place.
I must have sent mine off to about 10 places.

You may well be right in trusting the casinos, but can you really trust each and every person who works there and has access to those passport scans?

You actually have no way of knowing if they can be trusted or not.

Of course, the same is true of your credit card info but at least if that is misused you can contact your issuer and get the debits removed. If your passport is copied and used in a crime you can find yourself in much more serious trouble.

[Wildfire7]

You may well be right in trusting the casinos, but can you really trust each and every person who works there and has access to those passport scans?

You actually have no way of knowing if they can be trusted or not.

Of course, the same is true of your credit card info but at least if that is misused you can contact your issuer and get the debits removed. If your passport is copied and used in a crime you can find yourself in much more serious trouble.

Fair point, but there has to be an element of trust in business otherwise there would not be any business.

This is the only type of business I know that accepts scanned copies. Try turning up at the airport or the bank with a copy of your passport as ID!

Any decent graphics programme such as photoshop could alter these documents. Without actually seeing the original it would be hard to tell.

So the trust is a two way thing, the casino is trusting you that you are sending a genuine version of the document, and you the player are trusting the casino with how it uses it.

Mike

[Steve Russo]

Fair point, but there has to be an element of trust in business otherwise there would not be any business.

That may be so, but I have to wonder how anyone can trust a casino which establishes rules after you have already played.

If this requirement to provide a scanned copy of your passport was on the casino's website, then I might trust it more (but I, personally, would still not agree to play there).

In the case of the player who sent her complaint to Gambling Grumbles, she had deposited $100 at Tower Gaming (one of the Ongame Network casinos), won an additional $198, and then went to cash out. She provided the usual documents that are required (utility bill and driver's license) and then was told that the passport is mandatory. There is no mention of such a requirement on Tower Gaming's T&Cs.

In short, they are not only holding her winnings but also her deposit until such time as she sends them the scanned copy. What will somebody who has no passport do?

Frankly, I am not at all happy even with the general practice on line: You make a deposit, if you win they verify that you eligible to play, and if they decide you are not they return your deposit but don't pay your winnings.

Basically, that puts the player in a position where he can lose but he can not win. It would be much fairer if the casino ran whatever checks it wanted, and asked for any documents that it requires, before allowing you to bet.

That way, if for any reason you are not qualified to play there (you live in the wrong country, your documents are not sufficient, you are suspected of having a double account, etc), you can neither win nor lose -- you simply wouldn't be able to bet.

However, as bad as the general practice is, the setting of new requirements (such as the passport) which are not included in the T&Cs is even worse -- especially when you can not get back even your own deposit.

[RobbyJ]

I think you're putting yourself in a liable position stating that:

The "network" that José referred to is the Ongame Network of casinos, of which Tower is part, and as Ongame is apparently requiring photocopies of passports for all of its casinos, Gambling Grumbles feels that you should think twice (at a minimum) before playing at any of them. A full list of them can be found at the Ongame website: http://www.ongamenetwork.com/partners

As the Tower Casino is Net Ent not ongame. . . Tower does use Ongame for Poker. How can you mediate properly if you don't even know what's going on? I hope everything works out, but i think your facts are messed up!

[Steve Russo]

As the Tower Casino is Net Ent not ongame. . . Tower does use Ongame for Poker. How can you mediate properly if you don't even know what's going on? I hope everything works out, but i think your facts are messed up!

Robby, Gambling Grumbles has written to Tower several times about this (both before and after posting the report). We stand ready to change the report at any time that the casino either agrees to give the player the money which it owes her or, failing that, to explain why it will not do so.

To date, it has done neither. It has simply said that this is Ongame's policy.