Complaint #3
BiamoBet Casino
Account blocked and 4500 EUR in winnings seized
4 years ago
Dealing with BiamoBet has got to be the worst experience I've had with a casino. Unfortunately, this was the casino where I managed to get my biggest win to date.
Here is the step by step process of how they blocked my account to seize my winnings (4500€ was on my account at the time of the block):
1. Signed up and played at their casino. In hindsight should have fully verified my account before I started playing, but I'm not sure that it would have made a difference.
2. Made my first small withdrawal (100€) to my bank account. I was asked to provide a verification document and I verified my national ID and successfully withdrew the money.
3. Continued playing and won close to 5500€ in Razor Shark with a 1€ bet. Shortly after made a withdrawal to the same bank account as I did before (in the sum of 6300€).
4. Was asked to provide extra verification (selfie with ID), which I did.
5. Nearly 2 weeks passed. I contacted their support and they replied that verifying can take up to 14 working days.
6. The withdrawal was cancelled and they claimed that the selfie with ID was edited/photoshopped (which it clearly was not). Sent them 2 additional ID selfies, both taken with my phone, no editing.
7. Meanwhile I could not make the withdrawal in the same amount anymore as they decided to lower their limit for that method to 1500€ per week (coincidental?).
8. Days passed again and my selfies were once again rejected. Support answered in broken English and they weren't at all specific as to what was wrong with them. Finally they managed to communicate to me that the original national ID photos (the ones that were verified before) were edited (which they were, I cropped them in Adobe Fireworks). Fair enough, sent them new photos of the same national ID front and back (again taken with my phone, no editing).
9. I lost some of my winnings and I was down to 4500€ when I decided to stop and not play until I manage to withdraw my full balance. Asked support to set a loss limit on my account, which they did not even reply to (their responsible gambling section states, that setting a loss limit is possible).
10. They asked for additional documents (bank card front and back, address verification). Uploaded the necessary documents to my account. Also they added Skrill as a deposit/withdrawal method during this and I now decided to withdraw to Skrill so I made a small deposit and added a screenshot of my account to verify that method as well. I then made a 1500€ withdrawal to Skrill (maximum amount).
11. After all this received an e-mail stating, that my account is blocked. They pointed to terms 6.5 and 13.8 which are basically about documents being edited/photoshopped, which none of my documents were. Blocking my account makes no sense anyway because I'm not able to provide them new verification information or contact them. Not giving a specific reason as to what they think is edited or Photoshopped or even which document they are talking about is beyond me.
12. Can't log into my account anymore and access my funds. Replied to the e-mail with all the documents required for verification again, no answer.
Stalling larger withdrawals for extra verification is more or less understandable but blocking my account and not replying sends a clear message of the real motive behind this - to seize/steal my winnings.
I have verified my account with the same documents/photos in countless other casinos.
I was and still am completely open to cooperate and get my account verified because I want to withdraw my winnings but the actions of BiamoBet do not give me much hope.
I can share privately the exchanged e-mails or other information if needed.
Here is the step by step process of how they blocked my account to seize my winnings (4500€ was on my account at the time of the block):
1. Signed up and played at their casino. In hindsight should have fully verified my account before I started playing, but I'm not sure that it would have made a difference.
2. Made my first small withdrawal (100€) to my bank account. I was asked to provide a verification document and I verified my national ID and successfully withdrew the money.
3. Continued playing and won close to 5500€ in Razor Shark with a 1€ bet. Shortly after made a withdrawal to the same bank account as I did before (in the sum of 6300€).
4. Was asked to provide extra verification (selfie with ID), which I did.
5. Nearly 2 weeks passed. I contacted their support and they replied that verifying can take up to 14 working days.
6. The withdrawal was cancelled and they claimed that the selfie with ID was edited/photoshopped (which it clearly was not). Sent them 2 additional ID selfies, both taken with my phone, no editing.
7. Meanwhile I could not make the withdrawal in the same amount anymore as they decided to lower their limit for that method to 1500€ per week (coincidental?).
8. Days passed again and my selfies were once again rejected. Support answered in broken English and they weren't at all specific as to what was wrong with them. Finally they managed to communicate to me that the original national ID photos (the ones that were verified before) were edited (which they were, I cropped them in Adobe Fireworks). Fair enough, sent them new photos of the same national ID front and back (again taken with my phone, no editing).
9. I lost some of my winnings and I was down to 4500€ when I decided to stop and not play until I manage to withdraw my full balance. Asked support to set a loss limit on my account, which they did not even reply to (their responsible gambling section states, that setting a loss limit is possible).
10. They asked for additional documents (bank card front and back, address verification). Uploaded the necessary documents to my account. Also they added Skrill as a deposit/withdrawal method during this and I now decided to withdraw to Skrill so I made a small deposit and added a screenshot of my account to verify that method as well. I then made a 1500€ withdrawal to Skrill (maximum amount).
11. After all this received an e-mail stating, that my account is blocked. They pointed to terms 6.5 and 13.8 which are basically about documents being edited/photoshopped, which none of my documents were. Blocking my account makes no sense anyway because I'm not able to provide them new verification information or contact them. Not giving a specific reason as to what they think is edited or Photoshopped or even which document they are talking about is beyond me.
12. Can't log into my account anymore and access my funds. Replied to the e-mail with all the documents required for verification again, no answer.
Stalling larger withdrawals for extra verification is more or less understandable but blocking my account and not replying sends a clear message of the real motive behind this - to seize/steal my winnings.
I have verified my account with the same documents/photos in countless other casinos.
I was and still am completely open to cooperate and get my account verified because I want to withdraw my winnings but the actions of BiamoBet do not give me much hope.
I can share privately the exchanged e-mails or other information if needed.
Screenshot
