Street Selfie? Why all these crazy requirements in the name of KYC verification?

[PX-Z]

If they start to distrust video verification it might make bit of sense. Some android apps are able to animate a photo as if it were alive by imitating what you are doing and making sounds too.

You can't fake a video verification, especially if its like a video-interview verification where the interviewer ask repeated questions about yourself for confirmations.
But for simple need to submit video i guess that's possible, but would be easy to detect a fake one.

[1714964398]

1714964398

[Darker45]

LOL! How ridiculous! This is too much, and redundant, too! Isn't it that the reason why a newspaper is used as a proof in taking pictures is that the date is indicated there or that the headline represents that date?

And they should've actually tried this themselves! By the sound of it, it's not easy. I'm holding a camera on one hand, holding a newspaper and ID on the other, looking for the perfect angle to include the building or the street sign at the background, finding the perfect lighting to make sure all the details on the newspaper and ID are legible, that it isn't blurred or has glare or whatever. A single small movement might actually blur the contents on the ID or the newspaper. Why can't they be reasonable?

[bbc.reporter]

I was browsing through the gambling board, and then I came across some member complaining about some casino that had requested for KYC verification which is OK but what was weird was the way they wanted the user to verify the account  

Dear User,
We hope this email finds you well.
As part of our ongoing verification review of your account, you are kindly requested to submit further documentation to verify your identity.
1. A street selfie: A photo of your face with your government-issued ID (Passport or Driving Licence) and a newspaper in one hand, taken outside your building or street sign. Take a pen/marker and write Cloudbet and today's date on the newspaper and sign the newspaper below the word Cloudbet.
Please note all details. should be legible, including the building name or street sign.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Seriously, is this going to be the new trend in KYC verification?
Remember, back then, all that most services required were the front and back part of your ID or passport before they started asking for simple selfies.

Why would they need a street sign or building name?

I speculate that moneylaundering through the use of cryptocoins and cryptospace services like gambling sites and exchanges might be growing. These new moneylaunderers might also be using fake identification and other fake documents. However, what these gambling sites and exchanges do not know is much of today's moneylaundering is being done through money mules. They are persons with KYC accounts paid for by the moneylaunderers to launder their money for them.

[Kakmakr]

I like it when you have to include the service or site for which you are doing the verification, because you can then trace back the data breach, if and when your documents were used for Identity theft. (These people can edit the photo to remove it, but there are forensic evidence that it was edited to add in your defense)

I have done KYC/AML verification on several sites and a lot of these sites are struggling with "false" documents that were bought on the Darkweb. (Proof of address & False ID's) 

[bakasabo]

Street selfie? Serious? There are dozens of ways how to cheat with that? The easiest way is to use chrome key or green screen behind to fake your surrounding. 25 euro and you can be everywhere. Photoshop online is free.

Street selfie might work, only if you have send them their your utility bill, ID and they will ask you to take a selfie in a specific place in your area. Yet still freelancers can help to trick that.

[traderethereum]

If the verification were to validate our account on a casino site, I would never want to do it because I don't gamble much.
But if it's from an exchange, maybe I'll rethink whether I'll stick with it or look for something else.
Somehow, nowadays, KYC seems to make it difficult for users who want to join multiple businesses or this may be their strategy to find out the background of each user who wants to join them.
This is an unpleasant thing because we seem to be forced to do things that seem trivial.

[Taskford]

I was browsing through the gambling board, and then I came across some member complaining about some casino that had requested for KYC verification which is OK but what was weird was the way they wanted the user to verify the account  

Dear User,
We hope this email finds you well.
As part of our ongoing verification review of your account, you are kindly requested to submit further documentation to verify your identity.
1. A street selfie: A photo of your face with your government-issued ID (Passport or Driving Licence) and a newspaper in one hand, taken outside your building or street sign. Take a pen/marker and write Cloudbet and today's date on the newspaper and sign the newspaper below the word Cloudbet.
Please note all details. should be legible, including the building name or street sign.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Seriously, is this going to be the new trend in KYC verification?
Remember, back then, all that most services required were the front and back part of your ID or passport before they started asking for simple selfies.

Why would they need a street sign or building name?

Never heard such thing and I find it really weird since why would those people ask for street selfie? while selfie verification is enough already. Maybe they are hiding something and I find it suspicious since those people who ask that can use that street selfie to confuse other people and take advantage on some certain situation. So I bet we should ignore those people or platform asking this kind of requirement since its bit risky for us to comply those things.

[dkbit98]

I don't like this, but I guess they are thinking that everyone carries smartphone spyware devices, and they could reduce number of cheaters, but it's just to extreme for me.
Just an idea, I wonder what would happen if I print specific street name and number, stick it to some random building and make a selfie with someone who is using that kyc documents.
They could in theory check google maps and see exact image, or they could even check image exif file with exact location coordinates, if I was stupid enough to not delete this information.

[noorman0]

You can't fake a video verification, especially if its like a video-interview verification where the interviewer ask repeated questions about yourself for confirmations.
But for simple need to submit video i guess that's possible, but would be easy to detect a fake one.

Yes, maybe not if the verification is done manually.
In the op case it is a collective KYC request for all users that the company is likely to use an automated verification tool from a third party.
In the past I have liked to test the KYC verification system of new sites, among those using such verification tools I managed to pass with random identities (even so, I didn't use them though). One of the example: KYC on Vindax

[Pmalek]

...and most of these casinos don't require KYC on sign up, which is what they really should do. I can't enter a local B&M casino without an ID, and I can't register on their website without an ID, so not sure why some Bitcoin casinos have chosen the shitiest possible way to deal with identification.

It's simple: they don't need to know who you are for you to lose money. You are welcome to lose your money on all of them anonymously. The community wanted private crypto casinos with no KYC, they got it. Just don't win anything spectacular. If you do, you agreed to their TOS that state they can request KYC from you and freeze your money until you comply.
Next year we will have to submit dick pictures with a sign hanging on our ding dongs to confirm our gender.

[FatFork]

While I can see the benefit of verifying contact information or postal address, I think a street selfie unnecessarily adds a level of discomfort. But, let's just say that I don't mind losing a little time (and a couple of selfies) for the sites I play at to keep the cheaters at bay, I see a couple of potential problems here. For example, what if someone lives in a street without a public sign or in a building without a name? Should we ask our local government to put up signs just for us? Second, taking a selfie in a public can be potentially dangerous, especially if done in a densely populated area with heavy traffic. No one has the right to ask you for something that can endanger your health or even your life. Third, asking a customer to buy the local daily newspaper is just stupid. How will they know if the newspaper is real or fake? Small-circulation dailies rarely have updated websites to verify the front page. I just don't see the whole point of this, other than perhaps denying the gambler the payout of his winnings because of all of these excessive demands.

[fortunecrypto]

Seriously, is this going to be the new trend in KYC verification?
Remember, back then, all that most services required were the front and back part of your ID or passport before they started asking for simple selfies.

Why would they need a street sign or building name?

That's too much load to the user if they are implementing that and they are a Cryptocurrency based casino I don't think many players of that casino will continue to play even their loyal members will think of leaving, it is an update on the verification of their players, so it is not originally from their TOS if they have it in their TOS already they will have bad feedback and those suppose to play will just pick other casinos to play, usual video verification is just enough, because some countries do not have newspaper anymore because of the technology.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Lol. Is this what people are subjecting themselves to these days in exchange for the privilege of being allowed to give their coins away to a complete stranger and lose all ownership rights of them? You can take out a credit card with a bank statement with your name and address on it. You can fly around the world with a passport. But those things are obviously beneath the almighty "Cloudbet", who need a bank statement, passport, street selfie holding a newspaper, video of you saying "My name is x and I love Cloudbet", and the password to your email account so they can check the bank statement you gave them was actually emailed to you directly from the bank. What a load of horseshit.

Every day that goes by I seem to be more and more justified in my stance of never completing KYC anywhere.

[stompix]

Street selfie? Serious? There are dozens of ways how to cheat with that? The easiest way is to use chrome key or green screen behind to fake your surrounding. 25 euro and you can be everywhere. Photoshop online is free.

Just as for the human eye photoshopping a picture looks very easy for programs is easy to identify photoshopped pictures extremely easy.
And the request of it being an outside picture brings the whole problem of shadows, you won't get professional work for 25$, you will get some freelance doing this in real picture but then you have another problem, and some have already figured it out how to deal with it.

What if they ask you for another set of pictures next year or 6 months from now?
What if is the guy that posed as you is unreachable, he doesn't want to do it again, he's dead?
You're....$#@#!

Second, taking a selfie in a public can be potentially dangerous, especially if done in a densely populated area with heavy traffic. No one has the right to ask you for something that can endanger your health or even your life.

I know this whole thing with the selfie is pure bs, but claiming that taking a selfie in front of your house is endangering your life is just as absurd. Where do you live, 1 Galle Road, Colombo?

[aysg76]

Lol. Is this what people are subjecting themselves to these days in exchange for the privilege of being allowed to give their coins away to a complete stranger and lose all ownership rights of them? You can take out a credit card with a bank statement with your name and address on it. You can fly around the world with a passport. But those things are obviously beneath the almighty "Cloudbet", who need a bank statement, passport, street selfie holding a newspaper, video of you saying "My name is x and I love Cloudbet", and the password to your email account so they can check the bank statement you gave them was actually emailed to you directly from the bank. What a load of horseshit.

Every day that goes by I seem to be more and more justified in my stance of never completing KYC anywhere.

For them they are taking this KYC steps ahead like at some point there were some levels like at higher the amount you want to withdraw more documents you need but this street sign and newspaper in one hand has gone too far.How could people not understand this privacy oriented things and just go with whatever they demand them to do.There are lot of other options which have zero KYC needs and you can opt for them.Your selfies and bank data are way to track you in every possible manners so why you are into decentralised world of crypto id you are really comfortable with providing them with all the documents they need so they can block your transactions and then government would come after you because you were involved in this gambling sort of thing and then you loose your coins and privacy is a just a joke for them.

[pooya87]

It is one thing to see a centralized exchange that works with fiat currencies to request KYC, it is another to see an altcoin exchange that has no fiat currencies to ask for KYC and it is an entirely more ridiculous thing to see a crypto casino to ask for KYC and to ask you to also jump through hoops has to be that last straw!
I mean who in their right minds gives their personal information to an online casino in first place let alone jump through so many hoops... it looks like there are many who do

[buwaytress]

Wow. Utter rubbish. Financial institutions don't even go this way, facial verification can already be done automatically and reliably, there is no legal requirement to prove you are in a particular location since it is player jurisdictions, rather than locations that should matter. I highly doubt Cloudbet's license even gives them the justification to request such data, maybe it's time someone report them to say, GDPR.

@pooya87 When funds are held hostage, that could be the only resort for many. These casinos accept anon deposits happily, and then trigger all these requests upon withdrawal.

[Webetcoins]

While I can see the benefit of verifying contact information or postal address, I think a street selfie unnecessarily adds a level of discomfort. But, let's just say that I don't mind losing a little time (and a couple of selfies) for the sites I play at to keep the cheaters at bay, I see a couple of potential problems here. For example, what if someone lives in a street without a public sign or in a building without a name? Should we ask our local government to put up signs just for us? Second, taking a selfie in a public can be potentially dangerous, especially if done in a densely populated area with heavy traffic. No one has the right to ask you for something that can endanger your health or even your life. Third, asking a customer to buy the local daily newspaper is just stupid. How will they know if the newspaper is real or fake? Small-circulation dailies rarely have updated websites to verify the front page. I just don't see the whole point of this, other than perhaps denying the gambler the payout of his winnings because of all of these excessive demands.

I think they are just too paranoid and they think that it will be easy for many people to fake the kyc process, that is why they require different things. If you are in those places where no street sign or a building without a name then you're doomed. Your money can get stuck forever on that gambling site but in case you haven't deposited anything yet and the kyc is only asked during the sign up process then you can easily discard it and don't mind playing on that site all.

Taking a selfie in public is indeed risky not only because you can get hit by a vehicle but also your phone or camera can get stolen. We know the world right now, so many thefts in the streets and most of them are only using a motorcycle.

[pooya87]

@pooya87 When funds are held hostage, that could be the only resort for many. These casinos accept anon deposits happily, and then trigger all these requests upon withdrawal.

But wouldn't that harm their business model? I mean at some point the number of negative feedback about their casino (how they took users' funds hostage) has to grow so much that new customers won't go there anymore and they would have to shut down.

[buwaytress]

@pooya87 When funds are held hostage, that could be the only resort for many. These casinos accept anon deposits happily, and then trigger all these requests upon withdrawal.

But wouldn't that harm their business model? I mean at some point the number of negative feedback about their casino (how they took users' funds hostage) has to grow so much that new customers won't go there anymore and they would have to shut down.

I used to think that too... there are at least two really old brands on this forum alone that have consistently done that (accept deposits, then request ridiculously impossible KYC processes) over the past few years -- the ANN threads, the AskGamblers feedback and complaints page, which is public. So they've got so much public negative feedback but they're apparently still growing. Go figure.

I guess it's just better marketing to cover up the crap, and they do seem to do this for big withdrawals. So it ends up becoming a cost they can afford, even reputational damage.

I don't want to say casinos are alone. Crypto exchanges I've also dealt with, to the point I'm almost an expert on specific AML processes (SofI, PoF, in particular) though understandably, they're meeting compliance measures NOT required of casinos.