The BitchMeister Blog: it's New! Improved! Old-Fashioned!

[silcnlayc]

To recap, we've closed out at least four Rushmore cases in the past few weeks. No matter how you slice it that is not "nothing".

Would it be ok to ask what the particulars were and what the 4 cases were about and who it went against ? Or is it too early to get any info on this? Just wondering since the 4 have been closed out but nothing about what the scenerio was etc..

.

 

[Artico]

Well, to repeat myself - the Finish players are being investigated. Hopefully you'll have better luck than the UK players and the ones from Hungary.

Its all about facts(!) and they already have used excuses. I repeat myself but the first excuse they used was that they used wrong t&c, secondly they said that my MB is locked. That is some amateur behaviour. I have nothing to fear if you think that. I have done everything correctly and that is what pisses me off. They should really compensate this somehow WHEN i get paid.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Its all about facts(!) and they already have used excuses. I repeat myself but the first excuse they used was that they used wrong t&c, secondly they said that my MB is locked. That is some amateur behaviour. I have nothing to fear if you think that. I have done everything correctly and that is what pisses me off. They should really compensate this somehow WHEN i get paid.

From what I have read, one problem is that Rushmore, or rather their investigators, are going from country to country, and this means that until YOUR country comes into the frame, then little is going to happen.

Since part of the investigation requires the investigators to make contact with the players, presumably independently from the details they have registered with the casino, affected players should ensure they are contactatable through "normal channels". This would entail such things as ensuring they are registered to vote at their address, so that they show up on OFFICIAL databases that can be used to verify identity, and addresses. If the investigators are looking for a Mr Smith, but find a Mr Jones at the address registered with the casino, they are going to proceed on the assumption they have most likely found one of the fraudsters. If players have given a fake phone number, it won't connect if used, and will again raise doubts as to the validity of the player.
Since this involves stolen passport copies, I would expect the investigators will call upon these players at home, and ask to see the actual passports from which copies were supplied to the casino. This is probably the only sure way to ensure the passport copy was NOT one stolen from a hotel reception (CM webcast), and distributed on the black market.

Rushmore could help things along by telling CM in what order the various countries are being investigated, and roughly how many players in each need to be contacted directly to rule them out of being part of this racket.

It may have been better if Rushmore had contracted SEVERAL teams, one in each country, to carry out this investigation simultaneously, rather than consecutively. Using different teams in each country would also expedite the investigation, since each team would be familiar with their own countries, it's language, and culture, as well as in depth experience of tracking down information, and assessing it quickly.

I doubt we will hear too much detail, otherwise there is the danger of a repeat performance, or attempt, with other casino groups - and beyond, which in turn will provide a demand for more stolen IDs, and thus make us more at risk of having ours stolen.

 

[maxd]

I have done everything correctly and that is what pisses me off.

I think you are somewhat missing the point: this is not about _you_, it's about a bunch of people, spread across several countries, and that's what significantly complicates the issue.

Is it a drag that _you_ personally have had to wait this long?
Ya, sure it is!

Is it (somewhat) understandable that this _process_ -- many people, several countries -- has taken this long?
Ya, it is (more or less).

If it was just about you this would be an entirely different matter but that is clearly not the case .. so things get complicated. C'est la vie.

They should really compensate this somehow WHEN i get paid.

If wishes were horses, yadda yadda yadda .. I wouldn't hold my breath over that if I were you. The casino has been cheated and stolen from by one or more gang of fraudsters. Handing out freebies may not be the first thing on their mind.

Would it be ok to ask what the particulars ....

I am not comfortable making anything but general statements about the case outcomes. This is partly due to the discretion necessary to keep the investigation details private (as they should be), and it's also a bad precedent to set for the PAB process in general.

 

[NextToYou]

The casino has been cheated and stolen from by one or more gang of fraudsters. Handing out freebies may not be the first thing on their mind.

It's not legit players' fault that someone else has been fraudalent towards the same casino they have happened to play at. 3 months money hold is not acceptable in any case and therefore some compensation should be a no-brainer for legit players.

 

[Artico]

It's not legit players' fault that someone else has been fraudalent towards the same casino they have happened to play at. 3 months money hold is not acceptable in any case and therefore some compensation should be a no-brainer for legit players.

Thats 100% correct. And damn right it is about me I am customer that should be treated with respect. I have received no info from RM during this process had to read everything from this forum.

 

[Seinemeyer]

If wishes were horses, yadda yadda yadda .. I wouldn't hold my breath over that if I were you. The casino has been cheated and stolen from by one or more gang of fraudsters. Handing out freebies may not be the first thing on their mind.

Personally, I find it odd you defense the casino in the middle of the investigation.

Let's say we have a bank robbery, and it turns out the swindler is one of the loyal customers, but they don't know which one. As of this, they close account of every single loyal customer for many months and defend this by saying that "we have lost a lot here, you should sympathize us". When it turns out it was a one customer who committed the robbery, they obviously open other customers' accounts, but nevertheless don't apologize nor compensate in any way.

The customer had enormous amount of money tied, it has been three months and nothing has been done as far as I know for him. If they wish to check one's identity, it can be done by making a phone call, check phone number details and address associated to it, ask for an utility bill or two, and ID. If all of these are a match, in addition to IP address pointing to same location, it should be enough evidence. But, if any of these security checks don't add up, then these players should be put on hold, not the ones who have every detail and information filled in correctly and truthfully.

 

[maxd]

... damn right it is about me ....

Have it your way, I'm just telling you what we know from where we sit. As we keep saying, your discomfort is noted and someone justified but the fraudsters have forced this issue on the casino and that's just how the cookie crumples.

We've told you time and time again that we are pressing them on a regular basis to get this done and over with. We've seen some results, we expect more soon. Railing against us, or using us as your platform to rail against them, is ... unwelcome under the circumstances.

And for what it's worth respect for the customer and customer daycare are two different things. Some businesses are happy to do both, others are not.

Demands for compensation and/or your outrage at them for not staying in contact through this process are beyond the scope of the PAB issues and matters best taken up with their CS people. Again, given the circumstances, I wish you luck.

I should add that assumptions about how identity verification is and/or should be conducted are not particularly helpful. No offense but unless you've got direct, applicable experience then you're just speculating and ... well, enjoy yourself. The casino has a plan in place, we stand behind what they're doing and their need to do it, you are welcome to disagree if you so choose. However, once you've said your piece be so kind as to leave it at that: constant outbursts under the current circumstances are long on irritation and short on meaningfulness.

 

[Artico]

Demands for compensation and/or your outrage at them for not staying in contact through this process are beyond the scope of the PAB issues and matters best taken up with their CS people. Again, given the circumstances, I wish you luck.

Thank you maxd. I only need justice that is all I can ask.

LOL about customer daycare, I would be happy if they had contacted me few times during this three month process.

 

[maxd]

LOL about customer daycare, I would be happy if they had contacted me few times during this three month process.

I hear you, I'd be a little pissed too.

While we're at it:

BitchMeister Update posted (a lean one this week): Link Outdated / Removed

 

[maxd]

Just posted the report for last week: Link Outdated / Removed.

Fairly quiet this week, mostly grinding through the backlog of older issues. Nothing major that I can think of, wee Rushmore update. ...

 

[Artico]

"Latest word from The Rushmore peeps is that we'll be hearing back on a number of the remaining outstanding cases early in the coming week."

 

[maxd]

Again, you are responding to the situation without knowing what you are talking about.

In fact I have received a report on a number of the Rushmore issues and have been working on that off and on most of the week. It looks like I'll have to work on it a bit this weekend in order to finish that up. So there!

My point is that there is a big attitude difference between "oh, so did you hear back?" and "ha! same shit different week!"

 

[Artico]

Great news indeed! Hopefully they get things done by next Midsummer. Funny thing they could have sorted this out by asking new utility bill or something but no contact at all. I wonder how they get evidence that I am really here. I bet some sherlock is watching me from the bushes right now or was it just a easter bunny.

 

[maxd]

Great news indeed!

Glad you think so. Please try and remember that next time you're tempted to post one of your disparaging and sarcastic comments on the progress of things.

 

[maxd]

Latest BitchMeister update posted: Link Outdated / Removed

This week its a Rushmore update, some info on the latest in Westland Bowl VS Heroes Casino, also Fatbet: Warning Updated and, as ever, The Numbers. Enjoy!

~M.

 

[maxd]

Quickie update on those Rushmore cases: Link Outdated / Removed.

 

[WD2810]

Quickie update on those Rushmore cases: Link Outdated / Removed.

Thanks for the info, my "case" seems to be up next. I am a bit unsettled about the fact that Rushmore has not contacted me personally in any way to confirm my identity. I did provide the usual documents (copy of ID, utility bill etc.) though before making withdrawals, so I guess they already know who I am.

 

[maxd]

I am a bit unsettled about the fact that Rushmore has not contacted me personally in any way to confirm my identity.

Well, the basic deal is that they are sending investigators out to check on the validity of player's identity and sign-up info. In other words if you say you live in Paris at 99 Rue Villette and they send someone round to verify that they expect to find you at that address. If they don't and can't track you down with the info they have then you are going to have a problem with them.

So far there have been a number of cases where people have given them invalid info -- their parent's address, a made up address, whatever -- and they've lost their winnings because of it. IOW, if your info is correct and verifiable then you should be fine. If there's something funky or unusual about it then ... well, then you could be hooped!

 

[WD2810]

So far there have been a number of cases where people have given them invalid info -- their parent's address, a made up address, whatever -- and they've lost their winnings because of it. IOW, if your info is correct and verifiable then you should be fine. If there's something funky or unusual about it then ... well, then you could be hooped!

Hmm. Well, my address is correct in the info I gave. I however don't see what's the problem even if someone has given their parent's address, UNLESS they have used it to generate multiple accounts. If that person is of legal age and only has a single account, I certainly don't agree that Rushmore has any right seize his winnings. After all it is the identity of that player that has relevance.

For example, if Rushmore stalls this process much longer, even I won't have the same address anymore because I'm moving to a new apartment in May.

I also see big potential for error if they have actually searched for people by foot. Like here all the apartment buildings are locked for obvious security reasons. You can't just walk in, and usually names of people living there are not written anywhere near the main entrance. Even if you got in to a building, there still may not be any names visible, as many buildings have only apartment numbers on doors. Or it could be a different name on the door if a person is e.g. living with someone else.

A much, much more reliable and easier way to find out if someone is a real person here, would be just to call the Population Register Center Address Service in Finland (

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

) and check their information from there. It took me all of two seconds to google it.

 

[maxd]

I suggest you pass your recommendations on to the Rushmore support people. I have reported the situation as I understand it. None of us here at Casinomeister are in a position to set nor orchestrate Rushmore policy.

I will say this though: it does not appear that they've chosen fools and village idiots to do the looking. It's our understanding that professional investigations people are doing the actual legwork.

 

[Pinababy69]

It's our understanding that professional investigations people are doing the actual legwork.

No disrespect to you Max, nor to this forum....as you said, you sure don't dictate Rushmore policy. But this has dragged on for so long that one has to wonder if these professional investigators are using pack mules as their mode of transport. Unless there are literally thousands upon thousands of these accounts to check....there is no way that physically checking up on these people/accounts should take this long.

It doesn't affect me personally.....I don't play there. But I appreciate these updates....as it just highlights for me yet another casino to steer clear of. If the casino were owed money, and not the other way around, I bet you a dollar to a doughnut, that they'd be able to track these people all down in a matter of weeks, not months.

 

[maxd]

No offense taken but I don't think organizing investigations of tens of people scattered across as many cities in several countries is something you get done before tea.

The reality is that Rushmore did discover a spate of fraudulent players and needed to do something about it. I too would have been happy if they had waved the magic bullshit detector wand and produced their results instantaneously. Sadly said wand was unavailable at the time so more pedestrian techniques needed to be employed.

No one is arguing the fact that it's taken a bloody long time and that is a PITA for everyone concerned, myself included I might say. That said, once you embark on the thing and commit to that as your course of action I don't see that you have much choice but to plug on and see it through.

Keep in mind that these are merely _my_ opinions. I have no vested interest in either attacking nor defending Rushmore's actions. I'm simply faced with the situation, have looked at the details of it, and have given my thoughts on what I've seen. Some don't like what I've had to say and that's fine, no problem. On the other hand don't blame me for (a) having an opinion on it or (b) disagreeing with your opinion on it.

Either way the bottom line is that Rushmore is doing what they're doing and they'll either get it done or they won't. We'll all judge the results when we see them, as we have been (albeit slowly), except of course for those who've already made up their mind and bailed. So be it.

 

[WD2810]

I have no vested interest in either attacking nor defending Rushmore's actions.

With respect, I disagree. Casinomeister is an affiliate business that lives on affiliate revenue. If this was any other casino, I'd be more apt to recognize your impartiality, but this is Rushmore which is your premier accredited casino. You do have a vested interest in shining good light on Rushmore's actions. After all your very first term of an accredited casino is that "They must be able to take care of any player issue swiftly and professionally".

Swift and professional would not be adjectives I would use from a customer's perspective. I've given them the most private information of my identity including my social security number, yet their swift and professional private investigators have taken over three months to identify me, a task which only takes an amateur a 60 second phone call (to the population register centre) to accomplish. An amateur also might have been convinced of my identity in the first place based on the picture quality photocopies of my Finnish passport and VISA statement, thinking those would be pretty difficult to forge and that they make it relatively unlikely that I am a hotel desk clerk in Spain who steals customers' identities.

I don't mean this as an personal attack, it's just me thinking out loud about how I see things.

 

[The Dude]

With respect, I disagree. Casinomeister is an affiliate business that lives on affiliate revenue. If this was any other casino, I'd be more apt to recognize your impartiality, but this is Rushmore which is your premier accredited casino...

Bullshit - plain and simple. Max has no vested interest because he gets paid to do a job whether it's an accredited casino or not. And in my opinion, he does a damn fine job.

It amazes me how quick some members jump on him as soon as you don't like what he has to say. If he helps you out - you praise him. If he says something you don't like, you chastise him - stating he is biased towards casinos listed here.

Total bullshit.

With respect, I disagree. Casinomeister is an affiliate business that lives on affiliate revenue.

Umm, I guess you've appointed yourself as my accountant. Well, you're fired.

 

[The Dude]

One more thing - Max has a vested interest to remain unbiased because this is what makes our complaints section viable.

You need to bone up on what's been going on here for the past several years before spewing spewage. Thank you.

 

[maxd]

What he said!

'sides, it's true. CM pays me to do the PABs. If you're saying that he would interfere with the ruling on a PAB yadda yadda .. well then you're full of it because it ain't so, and basically you know next to nothing about Casinomeister.

Truth is there are a certain percentage of folks out there who simply cannot and will not believe that someone like me can do what I do when there are aff deals and such in the background. Know what, tough toodles! I've been hearing the same bogus accusations since 1998 and they're still bogus!

10 years I've been in the biz and never once, not once, has an aff deal been used as leverage to push me to say -- or not say, or "un" say -- something about a case or issue. Know why? Because it's not worth the hassle. If someone tries to twist our arm that way they get dumped because there's always others more than happy to step up to take their place and not try the arm-twisting game. Besides, they get way more mileage out of being featured favorably on the site than they would by forcing and issue, getting booted, etc etc.

Think about it: how many individual cases have you seen that would be worth that kind of aggravation to the casino involved? Precisely zero, or close enough to it. It doesn't make economic sense and I don't think I need to remind anyone that casinos are not in the biz to be charities.

Oh, but what you might be saying is that they come in and say "you'll rule for us in all our cases", or "most" or "the ones we tell you" or whatever. Ah, have you looked at the PAB records at all? Have you trolled the message boards and found incidents of such abuse? No, I expect not, because neither the record nor the forums show any such thing. In fact (no offense intended) it's basically hot air, a "you bad" theory based on ...? "Nothing" is the word you are looking for there because that's what these "easy to accuse" type things are based on. Well, the simple answer and the only answer such unfounded claims or suspicions or whatever deserve is "where's the proof?" That puts the onus back on you, the accuser, where it rightly belongs. Frankly we've got better things to do, like handle PABs for instance.

Anyway, if you combine the "doesn't make monetary sense" issue with the "we wouldn't do it anyway" issue you get a simple result: it doesn't happen. I know that's stealing candy from the conspiracy theorists and such folk but there it is.

So, WD, your inability to "recognize" our impartiality says a lot about you (again, no offense intended) and not much of anything about us.

 

[WD2810]

Bullshit - plain and simple. Max has no vested interest because he gets paid to do a job whether it's an accredited casino or not. And in my opinion, he does a damn fine job.

--

Total bullshit.

Impartiality or neutrality is a two-edged sword. You could think that it's just that either someone is impartial in a given issue, or he's not. But it's not that simple. There is also a question of whether someone appears to be impartial or not. For example, in a court of law there might be a case against a company that sells doors, and the appointed judge occasionally moonlights legal services for a doorhandle manufacturer that frequently sells handles to that door company. Now, it may very well be that the judge can be completely impartial in the issue - after all his link to the door company is weak - but he still may have to recuse himself because he can appear to have a conflict of interest and therefore be biased.

Obviously CM is not a court of law and that example is pretty far fetched, but I think it demonstrates my point. Even if you are completely impartial in this case, you simply must understand those that see Rushmore's customer flow and your bottom line having a correlation also to see a possibility for you to become biased.

In Finland we have an old saying that loosely translated goes like "whose bread you eat his songs you praise". I'm sure MaxD is a good employee (or if he has a piece of CM, a hard-working owner) and good employees are loyal to their employer. In the past I've been let's say less than 100% honest towards some customers because I had to be 100% loyal to my employer to keep my job.

No one is asking you to recuse yourself or anything like that, nor is it in anyone's best interest, but this Rushmore case has pretty unique charasterics and therefore I think you should be a bit more thick skinned when someone raises questions of your impartiality.

 

[maxd]

WD, you don't understand the economics of it. Let's say there are 100 people banging on your door asking for a car wash. When you go to sign him up guy #5 says, "Oh ya, I want a blowjob before I'll pay you". Know what happens? You say "good luck with that sir" and you skip guy #5 because the next customer has fewer unreasonable demands and is ready to step up. It's simply not worth the hassle.

I know what you're saying: follow the money and you'll see what motivates people. In some cases that's certainly true and can be interpreted as you have done. In other cases though, like ours I might say, it's worth a lot more to us to be impartial than it is to be crooked for pay. In the long run we earn more, stay clean and hold a position that no one else can touch. It's money in the bank!

I would say this: such sayings as "you sing songs for the guy that pays you" depend entirely on the payment being scarce enough that you need, or are driven, to do it in order to survive. Basically none of that applies here.

As to thick skins for being called crooks, try this: I think you are a coward who is trying to pressure us into ruling in your favour because you probably cheated the casino yourself. Your PAB is lies and should be tossed out right now if for no other reason than your ungrateful attitude and groundless accusations. ... See how unfounded accusations and attacks can be irksome? Nobody who has worked hard and honestly to earn their position likes to be called a deceitful crook but anyone, least of all in public, and certainly not by someone who is saying "oh, by the way, can you help me out here?"

 

[WD2810]

I agree that your (CM as a whole) history is very reputable.

The reasons why throughout this process I've felt this case has maybe not received as impartial care would be:

- You've posted no warning whatsoever on your site about Rushmore and continue to promote it as if it was business as usual. I think a general warning of "Reports of non-payments; you may get tangled in fraud investigations that drag on for months, even if you've done nothing wrong, with zero response from Rushmore customer service". Of course you could've phrased that in more PC terms, but the message should be stated somewhere. Isn't just the fact alone that there's a flood of PABs against a accredited casino a reason to move it from the accredited to, I don't know, maybe "under scrutiny" category.

- In especially Casinomeister's input there has been an exceptionally pro-Rushmore tone, for example his video blog where he basically claims that Rushmore is the victim here and everyone has tried to defraud them. He makes no mention that there are several innocent individuals, most likely many more than there are fraudsters, who have got their moneys seized by the casino.

 

[maxd]

Sorry to poke holes in your balloon but so far the fraudsters VS legit cases are about 50/50. In other words there are a disproportionately high number of fraudsters being caught out in the investigation. That would indicate that they're doing the right thing and for the right reasons.

Also let's be perfectly clear, we are talking about less than a dozen Rushmore related cases over the past 4-6 months, including those that have already been settled. You wouldn't know this because you don't deal with a high volume of PABs but that is not "a flood". It's certainly more than a trickle but no, it's not a "flood". And what percentage of the total Rushmore customer base do you think we're talking about here? Miniscule! So, to keep things in perspective we have tried to balance the needs of the outstanding PABers with the Rushmore customer base as a whole, etc. Have we been fair, appropriate and balanced? Damn straight we have!

As to not being warned do you want me to go back and count all the posts that have been made telling people that this thing is dragging on? I've been 100% up-front about the dates these were filed, the progress that has and has not been made and results as they come in. If a prospective Rushmore customer is unable to find that trail of information then they simply aren't looking very hard.

At this point I suspect there are more links on the site to Rushmore's ongoing investigation issues than pretty much any other single casino. It's a veritable fishnet of Rushmore cross-links! The customers have been well informed at every step of the way! IMHO if you want it done differently start your own site and good luck to you!

And finally your "you need not recuse yourself or anything like that", etc. You've got to be kidding! You say "You do have a vested interest in shining good light on Rushmore's actions" and so forth and then say we need not feel that we have to recuse ourselves? What planet are you dialing this in from? Accusations like that on a forum _must_ be countered immediately and with extreme prejudice or the next post will be "aha! you didn't deny it!" and so forth.

You stepped way over the line and now you're getting called on it. Suck it up sweat pea, you asked for this one!

 

[Artico]

"Also let's be perfectly clear, we are talking about less than a dozen Rushmore related cases over the past 4-6 months, including those that have already been settled."

This is the thing I dont understand. So few cases... and this has took almost 4 months from them. These kind of things will bring them just bad publicity and make them look like amateurs. They do have good reputation in this forum and yet it seems they dont treat customers like professionals. For me it feels that they are ignorant because this thing has taken so much time maybe their business is going so good that they don`t have to care about low-rollers or something.

When you sum the time taken and mistakes and excuses in my case, it feels almost as no-brainer to put some sort of warning for them. Of course maybe you even do this when this is all solved. Hopefully next week we all are a bit wiser.

 

[Tengil]

Worth to remember is that there are many that are awaiting the results of the so called investigations (stalling IMO) before they PAB.

And about the "investigations", last time I checked the year was 2009 not 1909. And basically they could just say that the address didnt match without anyone knowing the truth.

Lastly to those affected Im pretty sure maxd is quite frustrated too.

 

[RobWin]

What I don't understand about all this is; Why are Casinomeister and Max having to take all the heat here? Where is the Rushmore Rep and voice in this ongoing thread?

A few more regular and updated posts here from Rushmore could definitely help the demeanor of the route this thread is going.

 

[maxd]

You won't hear me argue about that. I'm just sayin' ....

@Artico: As to "few cases, happen faster" you misunderstood. They are investigating a lot of players, of whom only 12-ish have PABs. Since they're hiring investigators in a bunch of countries, gathering many written reports etc I say again that it doesn't happen before tea time. Maybe it should be happening sooner, but I trust you see my point: it's not a trivial undertaking.

@spiderlegz: yes, they could just be lying and then ... yadda yadda yadda. Of course they could be lying but there's no evidence of that so why bother saying it? I _could_ be a barking transvestite, or a googly-eyed alien .. or you! "Could" is thin stuff to be calling out the dogs over.

 

[The Dude]

...You've posted no warning whatsoever on your site about Rushmore and continue to promote it as if it was business as usual...

This has already been addressed in this thread. How would I word the warning? How about this?: WARNING FRAUDSTERS - Be careful not to submit bogus info in your casino account or you'll get caught out.

Or how about: warning, if your account is locked, you may have to wait a long time for it to be unlocked?? Makes no sense. It's not a warning since those horses have already bolted from the barn. It serves no purpose.

Warnings are just that - to let players know they need to proceed with caution. In my opinion, I don't need to warn players about anything. There are a number of members posting positive experiences, to counter this with a warning would seem rather bizarre, wouldn't it?

Like Max said, there are only a handful of aggrieved players, maybe you're dolphins caught in the tuna net, maybe not. We have shared the information that has been given to us; I have read the reports from the detectives - it's meticulous - and I think the casino is trying to be as fair as possible. They could have said eff-it, and thrown your cases into the FU clause bin, but no - they didn't. They actually want to investigate each and every one of these accounts and pay those that deserve to be paid.

That is nothing to warn anyone about; the casino should be commended for it.

- In especially Casinomeister's input there has been an exceptionally pro-Rushmore tone, for example his video blog where he basically claims that Rushmore is the victim here and everyone has tried to defraud them. He makes no mention that there are several innocent individuals, most likely many more than there are fraudsters, who have got their moneys seized by the casino.

Reality check: It wasn't the casino committing fraud against players, it was players committing fraud against the casino. I was talking about fraudsters. I was speaking about fraud and identity theft, not about the accounts that are in the investigation queue. Fraud was the topic, not Rushmore.

What I don't understand about all this is; Why are Casinomeister and Max having to take all the heat here? Where is the Rushmore Rep and voice in this ongoing thread?

We are only taking heat from two or so members. I think we can handle this.

The casino has been giving us information as it comes in, and we've been disseminating it as well. Believe me, we've got much more on our plate besides this issue. As far as I'm concerned, it's being taken care of. Slowly for sure, but it's happening.

 

[Jasminebed]

I am not personally involved in this issue, but I must agree that the timeframe of Rushmore's investigations is taking extraordinarily long. If sending private investigators to the door to verify identity is their means of ascertaining whether someone is a fraudster or not, what happens if you are not at home?

I also don't understand why this is happening serially in the various countries, as opposed to employing agents to investigate simultaneously. If agents of the casino are flying from place to place, being lodged, etc, surely this represents enormous cost to the casino, which in turn will be passed back to its player base of predominantly honest players.

IMO it is doubtful that those players who have now received their withdrawals thanks to the help of Maxd and CM's PAB service would have their cheques in hand yet without this valuable service.

I believe there are visitors and guests to this site that do not read all the threads, but rely on the lists and banners to choose venues to play at or avoid. I don't feel a warning would have been inappropriate given the lengthy process Rushmore's investigation has turned out to be.

 

[Tengil]

You won't hear me argue about that. I'm just sayin' ....

@Artico: As to "few cases, happen faster" you misunderstood. They are investigating a lot of players, of whom only 12-ish have PABs. Since they're hiring investigators in a bunch of countries, gathering many written reports etc I say again that it doesn't happen before tea time. Maybe it should be happening sooner, but I trust you see my point: it's not a trivial undertaking.

@spiderlegz: yes, they could just be lying and then ... yadda yadda yadda. Of course they could be lying but there's no evidence of that so why bother saying it? I _could_ be a barking transvestite, or a googly-eyed alien .. or you! "Could" is thin stuff to be calling out the dogs over.

We are not talking about peanuts here. Given that they previously lied to some players like Artico (and others) I at least cant be 100% sure that all players get fair treatment.

And as WD2810 said, they could have verified the Finnish accounts in a couple of minutes. So the over 4 month "investigations" against Finns is just BS IMO.

 

[maxd]

Latest BitchMeister Report is up: Link Outdated / Removed.

Basically it's an update on last weeks Report: Rushmore continues, Westland Bowl VS Hereos almost a done deal, Fatbet moving toward resolution, and of course The Numbers.

 

[WD2810]

News

I got a phone call today from a Finnish speaking person whom I gather Rushmore had hired to seek out Finnish players. He wanted to know if I had been asked to sell my ID for $$$ or anything like that. I of course said no which is the truth. He was pretty clueless about online gaming in general - e.g. he had never heard of Moneybookers before. Anyway, he said then he will pass on the information he got from me right away.

He also wouldn't say or possibly didn't even know who had acquired his services, as I had to spell R-U-S-H-M-O-R-E to him. He just said that his employer seems to be concerned with ID theft and that possibly a rogue casino has sold people's ID's to fraudsters.

I hope this call yields action from Rushmore soon.

 

[Artico]

News

I got a phone call today from a Finnish speaking person whom I gather Rushmore had hired to seek out Finnish players. He wanted to know if I had been asked to sell my ID for $$$ or anything like that. I of course said no which is the truth. He was pretty clueless about online gaming in general - e.g. he had never heard of Moneybookers before. Anyway, he said then he will pass on the information he got from me right away.

He also wouldn't say or possibly didn't even know who had acquired his services, as I had to spell R-U-S-H-M-O-R-E to him. He just said that his employer seems to be concerned with ID theft and that possibly a rogue casino has sold people's ID's to fraudsters.

I hope this call yields action from Rushmore soon.

Rushmore seems to be run by amateurs. Accredited casino ffs. Hiring private investigators for sure, seems like some rent-a-cop calling who doesnt know anything about gambling. And that questions proves you are not fraudster and this took 4 months. Just hilarious.

If somebody in general calls me like that I dont tell him nothing. Why would I? They should clearly identificate themselves.

 

[maxd]

... seems like some rent-a-cop calling who doesnt know anything about gambling.

Why would identity verification have anything to do with knowing about online gambling, or Rushmore ... or even how to plug in the internets?

Poke fun all you like but so far your jibes seem pretty unconvincing and ill-informed.

 

[Artico]

Well it would be nice if they said who hired to make a call, wouldn it? Ofcourse now I know this prosedure I do answer their questions. But if hadnt read this forum I probably not. That is what I mean. No need to take it personally maxd I have no intend to criticize you with those comments.

 

[maxd]

Well it would be nice if they said who hired to make a call, wouldn it?

There I will agree with you, at least insofar as no one should be expected to give personal information to a total stranger who is unwilling or unable to identify themselves. Such identification should at least include showing that they are associated with some organization which the player would know.

If someone came up to me and asked me that stuff I'd ask what it was about. If they couldn't provide a reasonable answer I'd probably tell them to go bother someone else.

That said, expecting them to answer a pop quiz about online gaming isn't very realistic either.

 

[maxd]

This week's update is posted: Link Outdated / Removed

Summary: Rushmore pays, Strykke is Rogued, and as ever The Numbers: 4/3/1/1/2/2 for those of you who are keeping score.

 

[Artico]

Their investigator seems to be still celebrating Labours Day since I have not received phone call. Wondering how many people he has to call. If the questions are those already mentioned it should not take too long even with hundred people.

 

[The Dude]

Their investigator seems to be still celebrating Labours Day since I have not received phone call. Wondering how many people he has to call. If the questions are those already mentioned it should not take too long even with hundred people.

Well, you've just received a two week vacation for violations of rules 1.11 and 1.15. See you when you come back

Hopefully...

 

[Tengil]

Well, you've just received a two week vacation for violations of rules 1.11 and 1.15. See you when you come back

Hopefully...

While I somehow can understand violation of rule 1.15 I dont see how he has violated rule 1.11.

A warning could have been more proper.

 

[maxd]

I dont see how he has violated rule 1.11.

That person has repeated tried to turn this thread into a debate over their own personal issue with Rushmore. I believe that 1.11 items "harassing members with agenda laden posts" and "consistently ragging on a casino that did you wrong" apply in spades here.

Making others aware of your issue is one thing, being a pissy whiner is quite another.

 

[The Dude]

While I somehow can understand violation of rule 1.15 I dont see how he has violated rule 1.11.

1.11 - Please do not exploit this board to promote your own personal agenda. If the moderators (and members) feel that you are ... consistently ragging on a casino that did you wrong, etc., your account may be suspended.

Seems pretty clear to me. I feel I've been tolerant enough with the hijacking of this thread. This thread concerns Max's updates to his blog - not the Finnish investigation by Rushmore.