One of the great things about working in the player complaints area is that we get to see fairly early on what new scams and trickery players are being subjected to. And so it is we have a new scam to bring to our reader’s attention:
If a casino tells you you’ve won a shedload of money — millions in many cases — and asks you to make a deposit to “release” or “unlock” your winnings, or “verify” your identity, are you being scammed?
We’re seeing a lot of this lately and the answer is simple: if the requested amount is anything more than £$€10-20 then the answer is likely “yes, you are being scammed”, and the casino is simply trying to get good money from you by promising winnings that don’t exist: don’t do it!
Why might a legitimate casino ask you to do this? Asking you to make a SMALL deposit on demand allows the casino to look at the money trail and verify that you are who you say you are and your money is coming to them through recognised channels. In other words it’s a KYC thing and there is no reason to be alarmed. But the key word here is “small”, £$€10-20 being the norm. And this should only be necessary once, or at least once in a long while.
Why might a fake, crooked or outright rogue casino ask you to do this? The casino is either asking you to bankroll your own winnings — you pay for your own withdrawal — or they are simply trying to steal money from you before they deny you access to your account and/or the winnings you supposedly accumulated. In the course of our PAB (Player Arbitration) work we have seen both scenarios but as of late 2024 and early 2025 it has been more the latter, outright fakery in order to steal player deposits.
See here for a forum discussion on this topic:
How abnormal is “make deposit” in order to withdraw winnings? - Casinomeister Forum
WARNING: if a casino is asking you to make a deposit over £$€10-20 in order to “release” your winnings you should stop immediately and research this casino, they may very well be trying to steal from you. Large “verification” deposits are not required by legitimate casinos:
asking you to make LARGER deposits — £$€50-100 or more — is extremely suspicious and you are in danger of being scammed by a rogue casino.
If this is happening, or has happened, to you please post here to name the casino: this will alert other players and help bring this rogue casino activity to a halt.
Regards,
Max Drayman
Complaints & Player Arbitration (PAB) Team Leader
