Fraud Alert for iGaming Operators

[News Hound]

We recently became aware of individuals purporting to represent Casinomeister with a view to defraud affiliate programs

Read the full article here: Fraud Alert for iGaming Operators

 

[maxd]

The good news is that after several attempts it appears -- to be confirmed -- that Skype has finally taken down the main offenders spoofing my account. Not sure where the others are at but I'm glad to see those ones gone.

- Max

 

[maxd]

Unfortunately I spoke too soon. It appears that Skype is just blocking me from seeing the accounts I reported but it seems the accounts are still there.

So, for anyone concerned about this, here's the thing: it's very easy on Skype to create a spoof account of an existing users account, just add some text to the user name.

So in my case my Skype account is "maxd.casinomeister", has been for years. Well the spoof accounts just do as described above, add some text. The main culprit in my case is "maxd.casinomeister | gambling traffic". With that simple addition to my original user name the person behind that account is able to impersonate me on Skype and offer fake services. We know of at least two cases where people were defrauded out of 1000s of Euros by that person and several other cases where detailed discussions for those same fake services took place.

FWIW I've reported these spoof accounts to Skype at least three times over the past year or so and nothing is done about it. Because of that we're having to raise the alarm on these ourselves.

As mentioned in the Fraud Alert article, the main points are:

• Casinomeister does not do business on Skype.
• Anyone you talk to on Skype could be a fraud, verify through casinomeister.com email channels that you are talking to a legitimate representative of Casinomeister.

- Max

 

[maxd]

Just an update based on another recent victim's report:

Apparently these guys are getting a little more sophisticated, they're spoofing our email addresses in their communications with people and asking them to talk only on Skype.

So, as I'd said earlier:

"Anyone you talk to on Skype could be a fraud, verify through casinomeister.com email channels that you are talking to a legitimate representative of Casinomeister."​

And by "verify through casinomeister.com email channels" I mean do exactly that: send an email to the Casinomeister.com email address they give and ask for confirmation, regardless of what they tell you to do on Skype. If you get a proper reply to your email -- quoting your original text of course -- then that's a good sign. If you get nothing back or a "what are you talking about?" type response then that's not a good sign.

Also, regarding emails, if there is anything that looks odd -- like Russian in the Subject, Date or From lines for instance -- then be paranoid and seek confirmation through some other channel. Sign on here and check with me for instance via @maxd, for example. I'm sure there will be important people at GIG that one could refer to as well, when I have that info I'll update here again with that. For now communicating with us through accounts-AT-casinomeister.com is probably the best bet.

Also check the banking info they give if they're asking for an invoice to be paid. We don't do crypto invoices so that's one red flag to watch out for. Also the banking info should have something to do with Casinomeister, or GIG now that they own CM. If in any doubt whatsoever contact us outside of Skype and hopefully we can point you in the right direction.

When we have more info on the accounting procedures under GIG I'll update here with that.

- Max

 

[DreamRJ]

Just an update based on another recent victim's report:

Apparently these guys are getting a little more sophisticated, they're spoofing our email addresses in their communications with people and asking them to talk only on Skype.

So, as I'd said earlier:

"Anyone you talk to on Skype could be a fraud, verify through casinomeister.com email channels that you are talking to a legitimate representative of Casinomeister."​

And by "verify through casinomeister.com email channels" I mean do exactly that: send an email to the Casinomeister.com email address they give and ask for confirmation, regardless of what they tell you to do on Skype. If you get a proper reply to your email -- quoting your original text of course -- then that's a good sign. If you get nothing back or a "what are you talking about?" type response then that's not a good sign.

Also, regarding emails, if there is anything that looks odd -- like Russian in the Subject, Date or From lines for instance -- then be paranoid and seek confirmation through some other channel. Sign on here and check with me for instance via @maxd, for example. I'm sure there will be important people at GIG that one could refer to as well, when I have that info I'll update here again with that.

Also check the banking info they give if they're asking for an invoice to be paid. We don't do crypto invoices so that's one red flag to watch out for. Also the banking info should have something to do with Casinomeister, or GIG now that they own CM. If in any doubt whatsoever contact us outside of Skype and hopefully we can point you in the right direction.

When we have more info on the accounting procedures under GIG I'll update here with that.

- Max

Just my 2 pennies worth Max but why do you still use skype? Discord is better and I would say much harder to be spoofed on. Discord recently made that new system for usernames so only 1 can have that username and no need to have those #XXXX digits now.

All you would need to do is let everyone know your discord username.

Many people stopped using skype years ago because discord took over. It has far better UI and is more user friendly and is also more accessible than skype is. Just my opinion though

 

[maxd]

Yeah, I hear you but the wider community changes slowly. For me Skype is a work thing since 90% of the people who want to communicate with me through some messenger service want to do it through Skype. Try converting people to Discord: pain and suffering and they still want to use Skype. So Skype is where we do it. *sigh*

- Max

 

[DreamRJ]

Yeah, I hear you but the wider community changes slowly. For me Skype is a work thing since 90% of the people who want to communicate with me through some messenger service want to do it through Skype. Try converting people to Discord: pain and suffering and they still want to use Skype. So Skype is where we do it. *sigh*

- Max

I hear ya some people do not like change. But Skype will be gone at some point, MS got rid of messenger so I suspect skype will be gone soon too. Discord will probably get bought by MS at some point and MS will they kill discord off until a new creation hits off and becomes the best lol.

Discord atm is the best Voice and video call app because of how easy and accessible it is for everyone. Unlike Zoom for example where there is a lot of pain involved in getting an account etc. Skype is also a pain because they do not allow people to create new accounts now without phone numbers either.

Discord still does not require it as default on new accounts but you will be asked to over time when you break some rules in a specific server or join a server that requires you to verify via phone.

But yeah some people just do not like change but when time comes they have to accept the change anyway so it always makes me wonder why they just do not make that switch before they are forced to anyway lol

 

[Guntis]

To me Skype looks like some kind of communication channel where previously old grandmothers could see their grandchildren through their computer camera, lol. I don't get why iGaming's people are using it at all.

 

[maxd]

To me Skype looks like some kind of communication channel where previously old grandmothers could see their grandchildren through their computer camera, lol. I don't get why iGaming's people are using it at all.

You're not wrong there. Then again I'm one of those old buggers so who am I to point fingers.

 

[DreamRJ]

You're not wrong there. Then again I'm one of those old buggers so who am I to point fingers.

We are all getting older mate - I am nearly 42 - but I do make mistakes sometimes when asked what my age is I might accidently type 24 lol