Casumo Affiliate Spam Problem

[colinsunderland]

Just to add - here is the urgent email that was sent to affiliates on the 27th of April:



This doesn't sound like an iron fist coming down. If I were one of these spamming affiliates, I could have poked holes in these guidelines to get those links out by the 1000s.

Seriously?? No cool kids like a spammer?? How old are your affiliates? 12?

Don't forget that I am one of yours - and I'm 58. Just call me gramps.

That was pretty much what I thought too when i read it, and mentioned what i thought of it here

I have noticed some of the links have stopped working now, and the one a couple of posts back collecting email addresses has been changed to a 'review', however this has all happened since they lost accredited status, rather than before, not sure what apparently was done before then as was stated by Alex.

Alex also sent me my so called proof of opt in, after he mentioned it in his post as if they didn't have to remove me as they had an opt in, this is not a proof of opt in

email |[email protected]
fname | Colin
lname |
URL | xwwwwww.ideal-offers.com
tmstamp | 2016-09-26 15:10:19

1. xwww.ideal-offers.com is a redirect to another site, so I couldn't have opted into anything there.
2. the site it redirects to is terrible, there is no way on earth I would put any details in there full stop
3. its not a screenshot, there are no identifiable details, like an IP address, or even my surname.
4. Anyone can type some details out and pretend they are opt in details, look, does this mean casinomeister has opted in?

email |[email protected]
fname | forum
lname |
URL | xwww.ideal-offers.com
tmstamp | 2016-09-26 15:10:19

Of course it doesn't, and shows how ridiculous this apparent proof of opt in is. I'm presuming it was acceptable to Casumo though as otherwise why send it to me and mention it in the earlier post.

I'm still waiting for the others and a follow up to the one above, not sure how long it should take to do something as simple as this, not weeks, thats for sure.

 

[vinylweatherman]

This issue with spam and deceptive advertising hasn't "just happened", it has been around for YEARS. Casumo therefore hasn't managed the amazing feat of cleaning things up as soon as the issues were brought to their attention in a matter of 2 weeks. It's more a case of for YEARS having largely turned a blind eye to the more deceptive practices, with the rules being "don't get caught" rather than "don't do it". It's the "getting caught red handed with pretty strong evidence" that has forced this "urgent cleanup".

In fact, Casumo based spam and misleading advertising is something that I was noticing LAST YEAR, and some of these affiliates were promoting different casinos with the SAME fake testimonial, even going to the extent of faking the Facebook plug in with comments in support of the campaign.

Behind the scenes however, the UKGC, the ICO, and the ASA were taking the issue seriously, and in the end BGO didn't manage to duck and copped a £300,000 fine for not being more robust with their affiliates. It's likely that there are other casinos currently being lined up for a fine by the UKGC, and these will be announced in due course.

Does Casumo want to be on this list, or is it prepared to listen to player feedback regarding affiliate marketing and behaviour. Players have a legitimate say as they are the target audience for all this marketing, so if we feel it is misleading, then it's misleading.

Many of the terms "dictated by players" for affiliates are based on the new UK rules and regulations, so it's not players that Casumo (and others) need to be afraid of, it's the UKGC, the ICO, and the ASA.

Perhaps some casinos would prefer players NOT to try to force change via a players forum, but instead bombard the ICO, the ASA, and the UKGC with all our concerns and evidence and have them force the change the industry needs.

As for opt-in lists, the revelation that one affiliate was pretending to need an email address in order to issue the advertised offer, but was really classing it as an opt-in to spam lists, proves that even the opt-in provisions are pretty worthless as a means of determining whether or not a given person consented to receive marketing.

 

[colinsunderland]

As for opt-in lists, the revelation that one affiliate was pretending to need an email address in order to issue the advertised offer, but was really classing it as an opt-in to spam lists, proves that even the opt-in provisions are pretty worthless as a means of determining whether or not a given person consented to receive marketing.

To me, that should have resulted in the affiliate agreement being terminated immediately. It can't be claimed it was a mistake or anything like that, it was pure deception, and also gives the affiliate proof of an opt in if it ever came back to bite them on the arse. The fact its been changed but the affiliate is still active says all you need to know about Casumo's view of things like that. It was active for quite some time since I saw it, and who knows how long before that. While I don't expect a casino to be able to check every bit of marketing, when something as grossly against their own rules and the law like that, you would think it would be acted on pretty quickly.

 

[dunover]

Alex - you have a great casino, are nice fun guys as far as I've seen and that's your downfall here.

There are a couple of certainties:

1. You can simply follow these links and correctly, 100% of the time, identify the affy ID's of the tossers doing all this who are likely to get your casino a swingeing fine, as Vinyl says, when the ICO gets hold of this.

2. You then, with no friendly warnings or nice-talk SHUT their accounts arbitrarily. No debate, no discussion and no money.

It is that easy. Word will soon spread. Is it worth taking this extra revenue only to see yourselves writing a huge cheque when you are fined?

There was a spamming 32Red affy ID reported here a while back. I believe once members notified Mark the account was toast, like in minutes. If you find the thread. That's why 32red dodgy affiliates are as rare a 5-reel Shitstorm on Thunderstruck 2. And yours seem to be everywhere.

 

[lockinlove]

Alex - you have a great casino, are nice fun guys as far as I've seen and that's your downfall here.

There are a couple of certainties:

1. You can simply follow these links and correctly, 100% of the time, identify the affy ID's of the tossers doing all this who are likely to get your casino a swingeing fine, as Vinyl says, when the ICO gets hold of this.

2. You then, with no friendly warnings or nice-talk SHUT their accounts arbitrarily. No debate, no discussion and no money.

It is that easy. Word will soon spread. Is it worth taking this extra revenue only to see yourselves writing a huge cheque when you are fined?

There was a spamming 32Red affy ID reported here a while back. I believe once members notified Mark the account was toast, like in minutes. If you find the thread. That's why 32red dodgy affiliates are as rare a 5-reel Shitstorm on Thunderstruck 2. And yours seem to be everywhere.

You could have said a 3 reel shitstorm and it would have the same meaning as a 5

 

[Matti]

On a separate note, we have claimed the casumooffers.co.uk domain and shut down the website as the affiliate was not following our T&C’s.

As far as I can see this domain was owned by Casumo long before this thread was created. As I see it you used your own affiliate page to spam. I don't expect you to confirm this since this I guess it would incriminate yourself in respect of the UKGC.

Somewhere down the line you have lost your ethical compass. Please try to find it again.

 

[colinsunderland]

This popped up on my timeline tonight, mobilecasinoclub again



So the latest win on casumo was almost £4 million? Pretty shit casino if not a single player has won a single penny since that jackpot was won.

Make a deposit and get £1200 and 200 free spins, no terms and conditions, no deposit terms stated, so presumably new customers can deposit a tenner and get all that with no wagering? Excellent deal.

Still waiting for my proof of opt in for all the spam Alex, shouldn't take this long to get them.

 

[colinsunderland]

Alex has been on since my last message and has chosen not to answer again, or send me the proof of opt in I was promised, which I think clearly shows he doesn't give a shit.

 

[colinsunderland]

All Affiliates involved have been contacted and advised to change their marketing strategy. The players have been removed from their mailing lists, even though one account was able to show proof of the opt-in time and date. Currently, the other two affiliates have been provided with a deadline. These two affiliates have been told to stop sending traffic and we have absolutely no problem with closing these two individual accounts if they cannot provide us with proof of opt-in. This is a T&C that we feel strongly about.

Still waiting for these 3 opt ins alex, or have you forgot what you said about getting it? What was the deadline you gave them, 5 years or something, as it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to get what you asked for.

 

[CasumoAffiliates]

Hi Colin,

Unfortunately we were unable to get the opt-in, in time for the deadline. Because of this we have paused our co-operations with those affiliates until they can provide it.

If you receive any more emails you feel are unsolicited then get in touch.

 

[Kevin Stark]

I hate when a casino sends too much spam to me by email. And when these suggestions turn out to be false. If only to attract.

 

[colinsunderland]

Hi Colin,

Unfortunately we were unable to get the opt-in, in time for the deadline. Because of this we have paused our co-operations with those affiliates until they can provide it.

If you receive any more emails you feel are unsolicited then get in touch.

Thank you Alex, they won't provide it because they don't have it, but thank you for doing something about it, hopefully it will stop as much spam

 

[spintee]

Wow I have only just come to see this thread and I cannot say I am surprised.


I am one of the culprits or should I say, one of the (dictators ) that tried to get theses spammers stopped long time ago but to no avail, Even after dunover's attempts at "stop spam threads" than mine but still no go,

No one was dictating what you should do but what we would like to see or do our selfs, Perfectly ok to listen to our opinion when something is wrong with a site or need our input but when it comes down to the serious things than we are no use?

Sentence from goatwack

Seeing that the ratings on CM are heavily influenced by its members, I feel that they have every right to voice their displeasure at casinos that don't work hard at pleasing its customer base


Absolute correct,

Not only are you letting these get away with it but when you ask for our email to get us of a list than all your doing is giving them more ammo to spam us with other casino

I mean what list? I should not even be on no poxy list to begin with, That should be a reason to shut them off, as colinsunderland as repeated many of times about the spam yet you waited untill its to late to tell him that the offender could not validate hes opt in? I could of told you that, well I did along with many others but you took no action at the said time.

We only trying to help you out, not dictating. If you had took the right steps to begin with than we would not be in this position now.

Also the email you sent out to affiliate's what the boss posted for us to see was a complete shambles,
to me it looked like a complete joke, and to be fair its no joke and you could end up in serious consequence if the U.K gambling commission wanted a few quid or the standerd advertising agency got involved.

Your not a bad casino but who ever is in charged of the affiliate side needs to get a grip, it may be all fun and games now but once the shit hits the fan you going to wish you listen to us dictators

You seem like a decent man Alex and casumo is a good site (minus the bonus system) all I can say is you had ample of fair warning

 

[colinsunderland]

Another spamming affiliate

Can you get the proof of opt in from him please Alex, if you want to save time, just close his account, as (you can probably tell) its an email address that has only ever been used to sign up for casinoroom.

https:// w w w. casumo. com/en-gb/?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=811505

https:/ / w w w. casumo. com/affiliate/?targetCampaignId=default&btag=657298_D18BBF2566A9499294F6B27B4C126A42&oid=13546090-f11e-412d-97ea-3f720bc452ab&pid=811505&bid=1546

Have forwarded it to hey @ casumo . com too.

 

[Playford7]

View attachment 79314

Another spamming affiliate

Can you get the proof of opt in from him please Alex, if you want to save time, just close his account, as (you can probably tell) its an email address that has only ever been used to sign up for casinoroom.

https:// w w w. casumo. com/en-gb/?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=811505

https:/ / w w w. casumo. com/affiliate/?targetCampaignId=default&btag=657298_D18BBF2566A9499294F6B27B4C126A42&oid=13546090-f11e-412d-97ea-3f720bc452ab&pid=811505&bid=1546

Have forwarded it to hey @ casumo . com too.

Spintee for PM!.. top post mate!..

 

[CasumoAffiliates]

Hi Colin,

Thanks for bringing this to my attention,

I am looking in to this right now.

 

[CasumoAffiliates]

Hi Colin,

Unfortunately the affiliate could not provide opt-in and has been reprimanded for this.

This is the first complaint we have had on this affiliate in many years working together.

They pass on their apologies and have ensured me this will not happen again.

Regards
CasumoAffiliates.

 

[colinsunderland]

Hi Colin,

Unfortunately the affiliate could not provide opt-in and has been reprimanded for this.

This is the first complaint we have had on this affiliate in many years working together.

They pass on their apologies and have ensured me this will not happen again.

Regards
CasumoAffiliates.

So they spam and get away with it
The fact is, this email address was only ever used to sign up with casinoroom, so I am 100% certain if I have been added to their spam list, then so have others.
thanks for looking at it though

 

[vinylweatherman]

Hi Colin,

Unfortunately the affiliate could not provide opt-in and has been reprimanded for this.

This is the first complaint we have had on this affiliate in many years working together.

They pass on their apologies and have ensured me this will not happen again.

Regards
CasumoAffiliates.

It's the first time they have been caught red handed, not the first time they have done this. If they had been sourcing their lists properly, this shouldn't have happened in the first place.

The danger for operators is that now the UKGC are on their case about this, and operators now face hefty fines for unlawful marketing practices, even if this has been done by their affiliates.

Most people who receive these emails probably don't do much about it other than curse under their breath as they delete them and wonder how it got through the spam filter.


What casinos should be doing is asking affiliates to provide the casino with evidence of opt in for all email addresses they send marketing to. This will mean the whole marketing database gets checked, rather than just isolated email addresses after a complaint.

A target can be set, say 99% of email addresses on their list must come with valid proof of opt in. This requirement would encourage affiliates to go through their lists and remove any email addresses they can't link to valid opt in information, and they will do this before sending the returns to the casino so that they can be seen to be meeting this 99% target.

For those who receive the spam, there needs to be an easier way to complain, something along the lines of the way spam texts can simply be forwarded to a universal number rather than the recipient having to find out the specific complaints procedure for the business being spammed.

 

[spintee]

VWM beat me to it,

First time they have been found out but even that is most likely not true,

Its no joke of a matter, we look as it as just another spam email but when look closer, than this shit can really damage people, not only will you get a hefty fine but also get adverts closed down on T.V

OPT in list? dream on as these emails are coming from inside info, I have a number of emails and not one bit of spam from a casino site on a few of them? why is because nether used them emails to sign up to sites, If emails are getting leaked than what about our info?

About secure as a rubber chain

 

[Jory]

I've just received my first ever spam text message and wouldn't you have guessed, it's from Casumo affiliate.

What bothers me the most about this is that it was sent to my personal mobile phone, a number I don't give out freely.

I reported to Casumo support who suggests I must have signed up to a site and opted in to receiving these text messages. That is simply not true.

I also get the email spam but that is so out of control these days that I don't even bother reporting it.

 

[CasumoAffiliates]

I've just received my first ever spam text message and wouldn't you have guessed, it's from Casumo affiliate.

What bothers me the most about this is that it was sent to my personal mobile phone, a number I don't give out freely.

I reported to Casumo support who suggests I must have signed up to a site and opted in to receiving these text messages. That is simply not true.

I also get the email spam but that is so out of control these days that I don't even bother reporting it.

Hi Jory,

Could you please message me directly with your username (if you are signed up), a screenshot of the text you received and if possible an affiliate link.

I will look in to this immediately.

Thank you.

 

[colinsunderland]

Same 2 facebook affiliates at it again with misleading adverts, no terms and conditions (nor are they one click away), fake videos showing impossible wins

First one

Outdated URL (Invalid) . com/UnitedKingdomSlotMachineFans/videos/10155364645244593/



Fake book of dead video

THIS WON'T LAST LONG! - really, its been the welcome offer as long as I can remember, and I haven't had an affiliate mail to say its changing, when is it changing to something else Alex?

Get 200 FREE SPINS + £1200 Bonus to Celebrate the start of Summer !!! - What, no deposit? No wagering? No terms and conditions? All customers? Brilliant, I will sign up now.

The page the link takes you to states the jackpot is over £10 million, what jackpot?

The text on the page states

Disclaimer: We are an independent company offering casino related news, view, hints & tips and all landing pages are our own and not those of the brands featured on this page. Everything can be substantiated. Brands display their T&Cs on their sites and should always be fully read and understood prior to playing. Only players over 18 years old can register at online casinos. Playing online casinos, slots or bingo should remain a form of entertainment. This piece of content is written by casumooffers.co.uk to promote the online casino operator, Casumo. While we try to ensure that this information is correct, we do not warrant its accuracy or completeness.

I thought you had claimed the casumooffers domain, presumably it is you who is doing this misleading text now then? Or are they lying about who wrote it?



Mobile Casino Club - them who had a hidden opt in to a mailing list

Outdated URL (Invalid) . com/MobileCasinoClub/videos/10154475414650826/

Ah look, casumo must have that well known 3 reel progressive jackpot version of starburst now



No T&C's again, except new players only, so obviously no wagering requirements on this offer
Link takes you to Outdated URL (Invalid) . co . uk/casumo/lps/index.html which has more content written by casumooffers, thats a coincidence isn't it?

Isn't it funny how the latest big win on both Starburst and Twin spin is the exact same amount £277000

Outdated URL (Invalid) .mobilecasinoclub .co.uk/casumo/new/casumo-starburst-latest-big-win/

Outdated URL (Invalid) .mobilecasinoclub .co.uk/casumo/new/casumo-twin-spins-big-win/

As the small print on both those pages says

Everything can be substantiated.

can you do that please Alex, I emailed mcc but they didn't reply, and they've blocked me from facebook so can't comment and ask

 

[CasumoAffiliates]

Hi Colin,

Whilst we appreciate your help with pointing out shady practices to us, I think in some parts of your previous post you are being a bit silly. The affiliate mentioned above is ASA compliant however we agree that his marketing strategy could be altered to help out the players user experience.

Each picture does state that terms and conditions apply, they are not advertising wager free bonuses as you well know.

He is posting real life wins and not fake wins, at no point does he state this was the game that the jackpot was won on. Again this could be construed as confusing, but it is compliant. We are not going to close an account down for confusing but compliant. We have however asked the affiliate to keep the games relevant to the wins for clarity in future.

With regards to casumoffers.co.uk this was seized by us in January, of course this does not mean it is us because the URL is still listed, again you know this.

Sometimes affiliates can have hundreds of pages and an oversight like this can happen, we have alerted the affiliate they must change this to reflect the truth and they are in the process of doing this. Thank you for finding that.

Best Regards

 

[spintee]

Just because its compliant does not mean its right.

As you pointed out a few times that Colin (knows this) how do you know what he know's ?

Just like the affiliate knows that the pictures are fake and if a restraunt showed a massive picture of a new burger that was also massive and went and bought it to receive a mini burger than I guess thats right because somewhere in the small print and 100 links it states you are not getting the burger shown? Infact the burger show is fake and impossible to make that burger, same as impossible to hit some of those screen shots.

I would bet that this is not ASA compliance, maybe for some off shore tax free place but certainly not in the U.K

Googlr has just been fined over 2 billion for advertising there own stuff,

Others and I are only telling you what is likely to happen,

Hi Colin,

Whilst we appreciate your help with pointing out shady practices to us, I think in some parts of your previous post you are being a bit silly. The affiliate mentioned above is ASA compliant however we agree that his marketing strategy could be altered to help out the players user experience.

Each picture does state that terms and conditions apply, they are not advertising wager free bonuses as you well know.

He is posting real life wins and not fake wins, at no point does he state this was the game that the jackpot was won on. Again this could be construed as confusing, but it is compliant. We are not going to close an account down for confusing but compliant. We have however asked the affiliate to keep the games relevant to the wins for clarity in future.

With regards to casumoffers.co.uk this was seized by us in January, of course this does not mean it is us because the URL is still listed, again you know this.

Sometimes affiliates can have hundreds of pages and an oversight like this can happen, we have alerted the affiliate they must change this to reflect the truth and they are in the process of doing this. Thank you for finding that.

Best Regards

 

[trancemonkey]

Hi Colin,

Whilst we appreciate your help with pointing out shady practices to us, I think in some parts of your previous post you are being a bit silly. The affiliate mentioned above is ASA compliant however we agree that his marketing strategy could be altered to help out the players user experience.

Each picture does state that terms and conditions apply, they are not advertising wager free bonuses as you well know.

He is posting real life wins and not fake wins, at no point does he state this was the game that the jackpot was won on. Again this could be construed as confusing, but it is compliant. We are not going to close an account down for confusing but compliant. We have however asked the affiliate to keep the games relevant to the wins for clarity in future.

With regards to casumoffers.co.uk this was seized by us in January, of course this does not mean it is us because the URL is still listed, again you know this.

Sometimes affiliates can have hundreds of pages and an oversight like this can happen, we have alerted the affiliate they must change this to reflect the truth and they are in the process of doing this. Thank you for finding that.

Best Regards

As someone who works in this industry, i find this answer concerning... Misleading players is NOT compliant under UKGC guidelines - it might be under ASA rules ( i doubt it ) but it is NOT under UKGC rules - i wonder what they would say if they were to see this reply...

I love Casumo, i think it's a great site - but you seem to be getting worse and worse, and the excuses more and more lame... Fine, CM might not be seen by every player in the world, so maybe you don't care that much about what players on here think, but to excuse this type of misleading behaviour is wrong, and this kind of thing is exactly the kind of story like the Daily Mail would love to run a headline about:

ONLINE CASINOS MISLEAD PLAYERS INTO SIGNING UP

Whilst i do agree that some people in this thread seem to be going out of their way to find bad affiliates (and it must be hard to keep on top of them all) - if you were stricter from the get-go, you wouldn't have this problem. Do they bring in so much revenue that you can kind-of turn a blind eye to it?

I spend so much time defending our industry on here, sometimes to no avail, but then to see a post which is almost excusing this type of misleading behaviour (i appreciate you have asked them to change it) is wrong...

And also, to be honest, i would very much imagine that misleading people WOULD be against ASA standards...

 

[CasumoAffiliates]

As someone who works in this industry, i find this answer concerning... Misleading players is NOT compliant under UKGC guidelines - it might be under ASA rules ( i doubt it ) but it is NOT under UKGC rules - i wonder what they would say if they were to see this reply...

I love Casumo, i think it's a great site - but you seem to be getting worse and worse, and the excuses more and more lame... Fine, CM might not be seen by every player in the world, so maybe you don't care that much about what players on here think, but to excuse this type of misleading behaviour is wrong, and this kind of thing is exactly the kind of story like the Daily Mail would love to run a headline about:

ONLINE CASINOS MISLEAD PLAYERS INTO SIGNING UP

Whilst i do agree that some people in this thread seem to be going out of their way to find bad affiliates (and it must be hard to keep on top of them all) - if you were stricter from the get-go, you wouldn't have this problem. Do they bring in so much revenue that you can kind-of turn a blind eye to it?

I spend so much time defending our industry on here, sometimes to no avail, but then to see a post which is almost excusing this type of misleading behaviour (i appreciate you have asked them to change it) is wrong...

And also, to be honest, i would very much imagine that misleading people WOULD be against ASA standards...

Thank you for your balanced answer, I am glad you find Casumo to be a good operator with a few issues and not vice versa.

I do agree that this could be confusing for players, which is why we have asked them to change the style of advertising. We are not burying our heads in the sand here, we want to fix the issues and we know this has gone on for too long.

I do think this is an industry issue and not just a Casumo issue, although we are in the spotlight here taking a beating next week it could quite easily be another operator.

However my job is to concentrate on Casumo and try to fix this.

I should probably take this opportunity to tell you we have been working hard on T&C updates for all affiliates, these will be announced in the near future once legal have gone over them.

We expect these to reduce player complaints

 

[colinsunderland]

Hi Colin,

Whilst we appreciate your help with pointing out shady practices to us, I think in some parts of your previous post you are being a bit silly. The affiliate mentioned above is ASA compliant however we agree that his marketing strategy could be altered to help out the players user experience.

Each picture does state that terms and conditions apply, they are not advertising wager free bonuses as you well know.

With respect, that is not at all true, I have put screenshots of the full adverts and linked directly to them above. Nowhere do they state terms and conditions apply at all. As for being ASA compliant, here are the actual guidelines from

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

Significant conditions or limitations must always be prominently displayed within the main body of an advert. Eligibility restrictions, deposit requirements, the detail of wagering requirements, restricted odds/games, and withdrawal limits are likely to be considered significant. Our advice would be: if unsure, include it.

If time or space is genuinely limited (for example, a very small pop-up banner on a third party website) then these conditions must be made available within one click.

Not a single significant condition is listed on the first advert, and on the second, the only one is 'new players only'. Space is not limited on a facebook adverts, at least certainly not to the extent that some T&C's couldn't be listed, or even 'T&C apply', but even if you argue that, they aren't available within one click. They aren't even available within one click of the landing page. I find it extremely unlikely they are ASA compliant.

He is posting real life wins and not fake wins, at no point does he state this was the game that the jackpot was won on. Again this could be construed as confusing, but it is compliant. We are not going to close an account down for confusing but compliant. We have however asked the affiliate to keep the games relevant to the wins for clarity in future.

That is pretty weak. The first url ends in casumo-starburst-latest-big-win/, the second casumo-twin-spins-big-win/, both pages have a counter that goes to £277000 under pictures of each game respectively. Looking at the directory on his server he also has same pages for different games. Nowhere does he state the win doesn't apply to the game shown. I would suggest it is misleading at best, rather than confusing.
How about I create a page with a url ending /casumo-casino-steals-money-from-players, then as the page have a large picture of your homepage, with a counter running up to £1000000, then text underneath stating 'This is the amount of money stolen so far'. Would you be ok with that, if when you contacted me, I stated, I haven't actually said which casino stole the money?

With regards to casumoffers.co.uk this was seized by us in January, of course this does not mean it is us because the URL is still listed, again you know this.

Sometimes affiliates can have hundreds of pages and an oversight like this can happen, we have alerted the affiliate they must change this to reflect the truth and they are in the process of doing this. Thank you for finding that.

These are adverts that have been created in the past week, and they don't have hundreds of pages. At least they were updated yesterday to show the content was written by them rather than you. As this was pointed out to you a while back though, I find it hard to believe it was an oversight, this was still showing as casumooffers on all their pages up until yesterday.

 

[colinsunderland]

As someone who works in this industry, i find this answer concerning... Misleading players is NOT compliant under UKGC guidelines - it might be under ASA rules ( i doubt it ) but it is NOT under UKGC rules - i wonder what they would say if they were to see this reply...

I love Casumo, i think it's a great site - but you seem to be getting worse and worse, and the excuses more and more lame... Fine, CM might not be seen by every player in the world, so maybe you don't care that much about what players on here think, but to excuse this type of misleading behaviour is wrong, and this kind of thing is exactly the kind of story like the Daily Mail would love to run a headline about:

ONLINE CASINOS MISLEAD PLAYERS INTO SIGNING UP

Whilst i do agree that some people in this thread seem to be going out of their way to find bad affiliates (and it must be hard to keep on top of them all) - if you were stricter from the get-go, you wouldn't have this problem. Do they bring in so much revenue that you can kind-of turn a blind eye to it?

I spend so much time defending our industry on here, sometimes to no avail, but then to see a post which is almost excusing this type of misleading behaviour (i appreciate you have asked them to change it) is wrong...

And also, to be honest, i would very much imagine that misleading people WOULD be against ASA standards...

thanks for that, I agree with everything you say, but can I just point out, in case it was directed at me, I'm not going out of my way to find bad affiliates. The adverts pop up on my facebook newsfeed, and its only the really bad ones that appear multiple times a day I have mentioned. Regarding the emails, I could post up another dozen I have had, for casumo, in the last week alone, I only post an email if I have had the same one on multiple occasions or I am 100% sure the email address they are using has been stolen from somewhere or given out by another company. If its a one off then I just delete them. This isn't limited to casumo, I have posted emails from LeoVegas affiliates, Videoslots affiliates, and I think Verajohn a while back too. I have asked for proof of opt in for 4 mailing lists from casumo so far, and been provided with none. The difference between them all is, other casinos actually take action against the affiliates, casumo defend them, as you can see from Alex's post today.

I also think casumo are a good casino, if they would sort their dodgy affiliates out I wouldn't have a problem with them at all, I said earlier in the thread they were in my top 3 casinos to play with.

 

[trancemonkey]

Thank you for your balanced answer, I am glad you find Casumo to be a good operator with a few issues and not vice versa.

I do agree that this could be confusing for players, which is why we have asked them to change the style of advertising. We are not burying our heads in the sand here, we want to fix the issues and we know this has gone on for too long.

I do think this is an industry issue and not just a Casumo issue, although we are in the spotlight here taking a beating next week it could quite easily be another operator.

However my job is to concentrate on Casumo and try to fix this.

I should probably take this opportunity to tell you we have been working hard on T&C updates for all affiliates, these will be announced in the near future once legal have gone over them.

We expect these to reduce player complaints

I wholeheartedly agree it's an industry issue... Which is why you need to stand out like Trada do and make sure when it comes to Casumo you are Whiter than white because eventually (although we might all be dead by then!) something will have to change and regulators will have to step in. It will probably come through a court case of someone taking a casino to court over an advert like the ones mentioned.

Don't be that casino....

 

[trancemonkey]

Advice to Casumo

Here's a simple term to add to your affiliate T and C...

"Any advert which is found to deliberately mislead or confuse through the use of images, texts, URLs or any other method, or adverts which do not contain a link to the Terms and Conditions of the offer(s) described will be dealt with by way of a warning for a first offence and the advert in breach must be removed within 24 hours of notification by us. Any further breaches of this clause will result in immediate termination of your account and all monies owing to you regardless of whether one or more adverts were found in breach be withheld permanently."

 

[trancemonkey]

thanks for that, I agree with everything you say, but can I just point out, in case it was directed at me, I'm not going out of my way to find bad affiliates. The adverts pop up on my facebook newsfeed, and its only the really bad ones that appear multiple times a day I have mentioned. Regarding the emails, I could post up another dozen I have had, for casumo, in the last week alone, I only post an email if I have had the same one on multiple occasions or I am 100% sure the email address they are using has been stolen from somewhere or given out by another company. If its a one off then I just delete them. This isn't limited to casumo, I have posted emails from LeoVegas affiliates, Videoslots affiliates, and I think Verajohn a while back too. I have asked for proof of opt in for 4 mailing lists from casumo so far, and been provided with none. The difference between them all is, other casinos actually take action against the affiliates, casumo defend them, as you can see from Alex's post today.

I also think casumo are a good casino, if they would sort their dodgy affiliates out I wouldn't have a problem with them at all, I said earlier in the thread they were in my top 3 casinos to play with.

Well, maybe i worded it badly - i was trying (and failing) to say that people seem to be going out of their way to bombard Alex with new spam campaigns almost every day on here - i think we can now all agree that Casumo (and not just Casumo, but this thread is about them) have a problem they need to get on top of. I would suggest we give them 14 days to get their house in order (seems like a reasonable time to me), and if we are still getting them after that, then we can start adding the spam to this thread again...

Just my 2p worth anyway...

 

[colinsunderland]

I forgot to mention this in my last post, but I completely agree its an industry wide problem. It ranges from the casino themselves being misleading, down to some affiliates lying, being completely dishonest, and pure spam.

The difference is how a casino deals with the problems. Due to the amount of money involved, affiliates will spam. That is the simple fact of the matter, especially when you have casinos who let them. However, if a casino closed accounts, or withheld a months payment everytime there was a spam complaint that couldn't be shown was fake by way of providing a legitimate opt in, the problem would massively slow down.

Some casinos are clearly ok with spamming (and not pointing fingers here, this isn't just casumo) due to the amount of business it brings in. Others are not ok, and in my view, you can tell that from spam you get. SkyBet/Vegas etc are extremely strict on spammers, and close accounts down immediately. I can't remember the last time I got a single bit of spam from a Sky affiliate. Videoslots too, I have had odd bits from their affiliates, but I can count on one hand how many in the past 12 months. All casinos should be strict, and the spam will reduce massively.

As far as adverts go, heres a facebook advert from Rizk, no one can tell me there wasn't room to put T&C's apply in the mobilecasinoclub ones like rizk have done here, and also their landing page. Thats a compliant advert, shows t&c's apply, then one click away, you see the significant terms.

 

[spintee]

Here's a simple term to add to your affiliate T and C...

"Any advert which is found to deliberately mislead or confuse through the use of images, texts, URLs or any other method, or adverts which do not contain a link to the Terms and Conditions of the offer(s) described will be dealt with by way of a warning for a first offence and the advert in breach must be removed within 24 hours of notification by us. Any further breaches of this clause will result in immediate termination of your account and all monies owing to you regardless of whether one or more adverts were found in breach be withheld permanently."

Careful my friend, you will have donover (Unofficial T&C Editor) chasing you for stealing he's job you wouldn't want them gint of hands round your neck I can tell you

A good rule there but I believe theses affiliates are no small fry and bring in many of thousands of players and also the affiliate is closer to the source than we think, I my opinion only there

If this was a couple of small fry affiliates bringing in a few quid a month than we would see a different story such as big ban hammers.

I also have nothing against Casumo as I think its a good site but the dodgy and they are dodgy affiliates that bother me,

 

[trancemonkey]

Careful my friend, you will have donover (Unofficial T&C Editor) chasing you for stealing he's job you wouldn't want them gint of hands round your neck I can tell you

A good rule there but I believe theses affiliates are no small fry and bring in many of thousands of players and also the affiliate is closer to the source than we think, I my opinion only there

If this was a couple of small fry affiliates bringing in a few quid a month than we would see a different story such as big ban hammers.

I also have nothing against Casumo as I think its a good site but the dodgy and they are dodgy affiliates that bother me,

Dunover scares me - so i'll refrain from taking his role from now on... if nothing else, i'm sure he could invent a new swear word to use on me, and i'd probably cower in fear!
It must be a balance for the casinos between needing new player traffic, and how you get it... But there must be ways of doing it without flat out lying/misleading...
I'd be interested to know if anyone has any examples of Trada / Rizk etc.. suffering from similar amounts of affiliate issues...

 

[trancemonkey]

xhttps://www.nativeads365.com/casumo/casumo-outbrainuk/man-played-new-game-three-minutes-later-he-had-ps30000

This link also looks a little loose with the truth....

 

[spintee]

nativeads365.com/casumo/casumo-outbrainuk/man-played-new-game-three-minutes-later-he-had-ps30000

This link also looks a little loose with the truth....

Bollox

Take a look at this link and does the picture remind you of any think

nextlinkhousing.co.uk/irisplus/

 

[spintee]

Surprise Surprise

Now I had alot of mail from this casinochicas? for a number of sites, so this is a blatant affiliate idiot. I have took the time to search casinochicas and they do have a website, I say website but only a poxy fill out form to sign up to a mews letter. no way in my life would I ever sign up to such stupid things and no way do I want to unsub so they than sell my details to casinodikers

 

[colinsunderland]

If you ask Alex for the proof of opt in he will contact the spammers for a copy of it for you.
No doubt when they can't provide it, they will get told off as it will the first time in years they will have ever had a complaint against them.

 

[colinsunderland]

xhttps://www.nativeads365.com/casumo/casumo-outbrainuk/man-played-new-game-three-minutes-later-he-had-ps30000

This link also looks a little loose with the truth....

Well that link is still live and the adverts Alex said he was going to get changed are still live (mobilecasinoclub.co.uk/casumo/new/casumo-starburst-latest-big-win/) still stating casumooffers wrote it and showing starburst etc, so that shows how much casumo care about affiliates lying to get new customers.

 

[Playford7]

It's the same all the time. There is zero decent regulation with online casinos.
This will continue until there is, and we all know it won't happen as long as the money comes in and the people sign up.
Here people have a chance of sorting things, that's great.
What about all the other people who play who don't know casinomeister?..
Its all about money and imcome, this place included.
Needs a proper regulatory body, as it is now not a single online casino I'd have 100% faith in.

 

[CasumoAffiliates]

Surprise Surprise

Now I had alot of mail from this casinochicas? for a number of sites, so this is a blatant affiliate idiot. I have took the time to search casinochicas and they do have a website, I say website but only a poxy fill out form to sign up to a mews letter. no way in my life would I ever sign up to such stupid things and no way do I want to unsub so they than sell my details to casinodikers



View attachment 80294

View attachment 80295

Hi Spintee,

Could you please direct mail me the tracking link on this email so I can look in to it.

Regards
Stephen

 

[CasumoAffiliates]

xhttps://www.nativeads365.com/casumo/casumo-outbrainuk/man-played-new-game-three-minutes-later-he-had-ps30000

This link also looks a little loose with the truth....

Please point out the parts where you think we are loose with the truth? This is an external company we work with not an affiliate. These articles are 100% correct and true.

Bollox

Take a look at this link and does the picture remind you of any think

nextlinkhousing.co.uk/irisplus/

View attachment 79859

View attachment 79860

Just above the full terms and conditions it does state...

Note: The man picture bears no direct relevance to the article.

I'm not sure how this is relevant, if you clicked on livechat on a site and saw a picture of a lady/man, then it turned out the lady/man did not work there, would you complain?

The stories posted are true, they list T&C, and are compliant.

With regards to the other complaint you posted, thank you I will chase this one up with the affiliate.

 

[The Dude]

Personally, I think the use of those type of photos (Note: The man pictured bears no direct relation to the article.) like this is just crap advertising, but it doesn't bear any relevance to the veracity of the casino. It just shows that a lot of lazy affiliates have a lack of imagination or photography skills.

 

[spintee]

That poor man most likely got paid £50 for he's photo, not thinking he would be plastered all over the internet with the most imaginary stories heard about.

Should of read the small print

 

[dunover]

Dunover scares me - so i'll refrain from taking his role from now on... if nothing else, i'm sure he could invent a new swear word to use on me, and i'd probably cower in fear!
It must be a balance for the casinos between needing new player traffic, and how you get it... But there must be ways of doing it without flat out lying/misleading...
I'd be interested to know if anyone has any examples of Trada / Rizk etc.. suffering from similar amounts of affiliate issues...

This whole matter needs referring to the ICO in my opinion. Clearly Casumo and Casino Rewards use the same marketing morons that are making pathetic attempts at viral advertising. I mean a £45 bet? If you play all 10 lines at Casumo's maximum bet you pay £50, you can't even play the pissing game for £45 unless you drop a line and play 9 lines at £5 which you wouldn't do if you could afford £45 a spin, and then reduce your free games winnings by 10%.

My bullshit meter has gone red again....

 

[spintee]

This whole matter needs referring to the ICO in my opinion. Clearly Casumo and Casino Rewards use the same marketing morons that are making pathetic attempts at viral advertising. I mean a £45 bet? If you play all 10 lines at Casumo's maximum bet you pay £50, you can't even play the pissing game for £45 unless you drop a line and play 9 lines at £5 which you wouldn't do if you could afford £45 a spin, and then reduce your free games winnings by 10%.

My bullshit meter has gone red again....

I would normally feel bad against a casino by now due to all the negative but in my eyes casumo has not done much to stop it, in fact the opposite and the truth of the matter is that they have been defending the culprits and defend the actions

Casino's do not like it when there servers get overloaded but perfectly ok in there eyes to overload our inbox, Yes casumo is not the only one's but one of the worst especially for a decent outfit, I rarely use social media and things so do not see all the top selling stories but what I have seen people post than they have to be up there with some of the worst

Out of interest has anybody meet the guys from casumo?

 

[colinsunderland]

Please point out the parts where you think we are loose with the truth? This is an external company we work with not an affiliate. These articles are 100% correct and true.

xxhttps://www.nativeads365.com/casumo/casumo-outbrainuk/man-comes-home-work-wins-ps28-million-ps215-spin

from the article above, how was he playing £2.15 a spin on a game with 25 lines, that can't be changed?

Notice you didn't comment on my post a few posts back.

https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/casumo-affiliate-spam-problem.78519/

 

[Playford7]

xxhttps://www.nativeads365.com/casumo/casumo-outbrainuk/man-comes-home-work-wins-ps28-million-ps215-spin

from the article above, how was he playing £2.15 a spin on a game with 25 lines, that can't be changed?

Notice you didn't comment on my post a few posts back.

https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/casumo-affiliate-spam-problem.78519/

Casumo are also plastered all over the site 'listverse' with dubious adverts and stories.

 

[trancemonkey]

xxhttps://www.nativeads365.com/casumo/casumo-outbrainuk/man-comes-home-work-wins-ps28-million-ps215-spin

from the article above, how was he playing £2.15 a spin on a game with 25 lines, that can't be changed?

Notice you didn't comment on my post a few posts back.

https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/casumo-affiliate-spam-problem.78519/

I was just about to say the same thing - these stories are all made up... and without ANY thought for whether they are even real or not, they lie about the bet size!
You CANNOT bet 2.15 on MFD - it's impossible.

I challenge you to give an ounce of proof as to the truthfulness of any of the stories you post - there may be some truth in them, but the "facts" don't add up.

So, to answer CasumoAffiliates question earlier - i admit that in the ad i posted, there was little that i could find to prove it's not true. But in the others on that site, there is plenty. If it went to court, i'm guessing you'd struggle to prove either the Book of Ra or Mega Fortune Dreams information...