Stake.com SCAM for 31611 USDT

[TemurBah]

Hello, dear community!
I would like to warn and inform you about the outrageous and fraudulent behavior of Stake casino towards me.
The said casino is intentionally creating obstacles for me to pass the 3rd level verification.

Let's start with the fact that my withdrawal in the amount of 31611 USDT was canceled. The casino support stated that I need to pass the 3rd and 4th level verification.

The list of documents for the 3rd level includes: Utility bill, Bank or credit card statement, Council tax, municipality bill, or government tax letter, An official letter from your employer or educational institution, Tenancy agreement letter, Bank Reference Letter

I sent them a PDF file with a bank statement, which contained my last name, first name and address, but the statement was rejected without reason, stating that they cannot accept only one document. Then they asked me for a housing and communal services receipt for the last 3 months. I sent them a receipt, but they also rejected it and said that it turns out that I have to attach a payment receipt along with the receipt. Then I attached a payment receipt for this receipt and sent it to them. But they didn’t accept the document again! Suddenly it turned out that I have to provide utility receipts FOR EACH OF THE LAST 3 months. I spent some time searching and uploaded them too: 3 utility receipts for the last 3 months and 3 payment receipts for them. And what do you think? They didn’t accept them either and advised me to contact the bank so that I could get another certificate. That’s what I did. I went to the bank, got a certificate that contained my name, address, seal, signature and sent it for verification. It would seem that I received a document that fully complies with the verification conditions. But no! The document was rejected again and they said that in addition to the bank certificate, I have to provide an account statement showing all my transactions for the last 3 months! It would seem that what does this have to do with my transactions? After all, for the 3rd level you only need to confirm your residential address. I attached a certificate of transactions for the last 6 months to the bank account statement that I had taken in advance and sent it for verification. But it was also rejected under the pretext that I only had 1 transaction in the bank and I do not use the bank very actively. This is where my nerves gave in.

From which I conclude that the casino is deliberately mocking me in order to mock me and not complete the verification. No matter what documents I provide, they always come up with an absurd reason.

I ask the community for help. Stake Casino is deliberately withholding my funds, rejecting verification for absolutely absurd and far-fetched reasons and mocking its clients.

https://ibb.co/7tjvwc9h
https://ibb.co/ztzndZT

[BenCodie]

Hi, I am sorry to read your case and to inform you that you are the 5th person to claim a large amount against stake in the last 30 days (not including anyone who has not yet come to the forum)

1. Stake.com lied and scammed me for $6,266.11 + transphobia
2. stake holding 43 eth for 1 month
3. Stake.com - Stole $7,560 and 1.99 ETH
4. Stake casino Account Banned Unfairly 18k in account

Not including other reports posted longer than 30 days ago or reports that have not been posted on bitcointalk at all yet, Stake seem to have over $150,000 just in your case combined with these other cases. I would hate to imagine what that number is when including people who have not yet posted yet.

I would love to tell you that there is hope, that a support representative will be here to help you soon, however just like these other cases, it has not arrived yet...and unfortunately, there are no regulators who you can turn to that will help (as it has been reported that Stake do not currently have a valid license, just a certificate with a gambling control board in Curacao who are notorious for not doing their job, and are currently undergoing some form of restructuring).

Despite the not so hopeful details above, I do hope that you can recover your funds. Sorry I could not be much of help.

[BlackyJacky]

What did the Curacao Gaming Control Board say?

They gave Stake a "Certificate of Operation" during the license application process!

[Doan9269]

Hello, dear community!
I would like to warn and inform you about the outrageous and fraudulent behavior of Stake casino towards me.
The said casino is intentionally creating obstacles for me to pass the 3rd level verification.

Let's start with the fact that my withdrawal in the amount of 31611 USDT was canceled. The casino support stated that I need to pass the 3rd and 4th level verification.

Stake already announced long time ago about this action that they will start to block or deny withdrawals on accounts that have not yet completed on their kyc requirements, which I think they are being fair on this, because they have earlier informed their users, also, about your own case, we have a number of gambling platforms you could have considered before leaving a particular amount of money to that extent, nevertheless, try reach out to them on their announcement thread maybe something positive could come regarding your issue.

[SmartGold01]

One thing I usually advise those who want to start gambling is to first finish their means of verification if at that casino has a place of to make verification, gambler must not wait for the casino requesting the document and this could be very sensitive to my understanding. Before making deposit try complete your kyc and make sure you aren't by any means undergoing documentation again. When doing kyc you must be ensure that your documents are clear and visible from both edges to a rejection.

[BenCodie]

Hello, dear community!
I would like to warn and inform you about the outrageous and fraudulent behavior of Stake casino towards me.
The said casino is intentionally creating obstacles for me to pass the 3rd level verification.

Let's start with the fact that my withdrawal in the amount of 31611 USDT was canceled. The casino support stated that I need to pass the 3rd and 4th level verification.

Stake already announced long time ago about this action that they will start to block or deny withdrawals on accounts that have not yet completed on their kyc requirements, which I think they are being fair on this, because they have earlier informed their users, also, about your own case, we have a number of gambling platforms you could have considered before leaving a particular amount of money to that extent, nevertheless, try reach out to them on their announcement thread maybe something positive could come regarding your issue.

One thing I usually advise those who want to start gambling is to first finish their means of verification if at that casino has a place of to make verification, gambler must not wait for the casino requesting the document and this could be very sensitive to my understanding. Before making deposit try complete your kyc and make sure you aren't by any means undergoing documentation again. When doing kyc you must be ensure that your documents are clear and visible from both edges to a rejection.

If KYC is a requirement to withdraw, it should be a requirement to deposit. It is unethical for casinos to allow people to deposit and play, and then ask for KYC after the request to withdraw is made. Alternatively, a big notice should be given when the player joins: Players can not withdraw until they complete KYC.

Neither of which are true. Casinos bury this rule in the terms of service and only make the rule apparent when it suits then, which is after a withdrawal request is made (this way, a player might deposit and lose 1, 2, 3, or more times, and only if they ever request to withdraw is when they will start the stringent KYC verification process).

The current standard practice is not right or ethical.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

If KYC is a requirement to withdraw, it should be a requirement to deposit. It is unethical for casinos to allow people to deposit and play, and then ask for KYC after the request to withdraw is made. Alternatively, a big notice should be given when the player joins: Players can not withdraw until they complete KYC.

Neither of which are true. Casinos bury this rule in the terms of service and only make the rule apparent when it suits then, which is after a withdrawal request is made (this way, a player might deposit and lose 1, 2, 3, or more times, and only if they ever request to withdraw is when they will start the stringent KYC verification process).

The current standard practice is not right or ethical.

Actually you are wrong on this one. For a longer while already stake required people to at least enter their data for KYC level 1 just to be able to see the deposit address. Meaning no KYC -> no deposit. And, from this year they also require you to pass level 2, just to confirm your identity, in some cases they even did that before.

A good example for that was a question being asked over a year ago in the official stake forum: https://stakecommunity.com/topic/89708-stake-forces-kyc-for-new-users/ .

[SmartGold01]

One thing I usually advise those who want to start gambling is to first finish their means of verification if at that casino has a place of to make verification, gambler must not wait for the casino requesting the document and this could be very sensitive to my understanding. Before making deposit try complete your kyc and make sure you aren't by any means undergoing documentation again. When doing kyc you must be ensure that your documents are clear and visible from both edges to a rejection.

If KYC is a requirement to withdraw, it should be a requirement to deposit. It is unethical for casinos to allow people to deposit and play, and then ask for KYC after the request to withdraw is made. Alternatively, a big notice should be given when the player joins: Players can not withdraw until they complete KYC.

Neither of which are true. Casinos bury this rule in the terms of service and only make the rule apparent when it suits then, which is after a withdrawal request is made (this way, a player might deposit and lose 1, 2, 3, or more times, and only if they ever request to withdraw is when they will start the stringent KYC verification process).

The current standard practice is not right or ethical.

This is not ethical as I know or as we all know but as a long term gambler or a pro we should be able to have this at our fingers tips that it's their top number one security they don't like releasing to people except it takes only those who knows what they are doing to be that smart enough to pass kyc, and most times when they noticed that people are becoming more knowledgeable about their tricks they wouldn't mind tagging such people to have either connected or having multiple accounts signed from their gambling site that is why it's always important to choose trusted casinos. Though I know that no casino is exempted from scam accusations but it's better we uses those sites we know that wouldn't give us headaches while gambling on their platform.

[Mahdirakib]

From which I conclude that the casino is deliberately mocking me in order to mock me and not complete the verification. No matter what documents I provide, they always come up with an absurd reason.

Unfortunately, you won't get much help from here as the representative of Stake isn't active here. I know you are going through a very frustrating situation. But try to upload the documents which they are asking for as long as you can. The level 3 and level 4 KYC verifications are always difficult to complete. I have seen similar complaints against them before. Try to submit a complaint on CasinoGuru. Some other users documents were accepted finally by Stake who was facing similar issues like you. As example:
• Stake Casino - Player’s account is closed due to verification issues.
• Stake Casino - Player’s account is temporarily banned.

[BenCodie]

If KYC is a requirement to withdraw, it should be a requirement to deposit. It is unethical for casinos to allow people to deposit and play, and then ask for KYC after the request to withdraw is made. Alternatively, a big notice should be given when the player joins: Players can not withdraw until they complete KYC.

Neither of which are true. Casinos bury this rule in the terms of service and only make the rule apparent when it suits then, which is after a withdrawal request is made (this way, a player might deposit and lose 1, 2, 3, or more times, and only if they ever request to withdraw is when they will start the stringent KYC verification process).

The current standard practice is not right or ethical.

Actually you are wrong on this one. For a longer while already stake required people to at least enter their data for KYC level 1 just to be able to see the deposit address. Meaning no KYC -> no deposit. And, from this year they also require you to pass level 2, just to confirm your identity, in some cases they even did that before.

A good example for that was a question being asked over a year ago in the official stake forum: https://stakecommunity.com/topic/89708-stake-forces-kyc-for-new-users/ .

This would be one of the few casinos where this is the case and if this is the case, how come these 5 threads exist of users who are not able to withdraw and if they had already completed adequate KYC to begin with?
I don't understand how stake could possibly have any kyc-related cases with a KYC before play requirement in place.Unless they were members before these changes? Or, the KYC level 1 and 2 are not full measures of KYC, according to this user about level 3 and 4:

The level 3 and level 4 KYC verifications are always difficult to complete. I have seen similar complaints against them before. Try to submit a complaint on CasinoGuru. Some other users documents were accepted finally by Stake who was facing similar issues like you. As example:
• Stake Casino - Player’s account is closed due to verification issues.
• Stake Casino - Player’s account is temporarily banned.

If KYC level 2 requires ID and it being complete enables deposits and withdrawal yet a level 3 and 4 are much more difficult and come after depositing/upon withdrawal request, it really is not much different to letting someone play and then asking for KYC to begin with.

[holydarkness]

[...] They didn’t accept them either and advised me to contact the bank so that I could get another certificate. That’s what I did. I went to the bank, got a certificate that contained my name, address, seal, signature and sent it for verification. It would seem that I received a document that fully complies with the verification conditions. But no! The document was rejected again and they said that in addition to the bank certificate, I have to provide an account statement showing all my transactions for the last 3 months! It would seem that what does this have to do with my transactions? After all, for the 3rd level you only need to confirm your residential address. I attached a certificate of transactions for the last 6 months to the bank account statement that I had taken in advance and sent it for verification. But it was also rejected under the pretext that I only had 1 transaction in the bank and I do not use the bank very actively. This is where my nerves gave in.
[...]

OP, how possible is it that they're actually talking about level-4 KYC, Source of Fund/Wealth. Thus, they're asking detailed cash flow. Otherwise, given you only have one transaction in the bank, though I somewhat have to say that you're the first person I meet who only have one bank transaction for the past 6 months. Speaking for myself, even my tertiary bank account [which signify how rarely I use them] still have a handful of transaction for the last few weeks.

That said, do you happen to have a credit card and whether that credit card is quite active? We probably can submit the CC statement in place of bank statement if the CC statement has seen more action, as it is one of the acceptable document for Proof of Address:

[TemurBah]

I have only 1 transaction in the bank, because I do not use it, I use other banks, but only the bank in which I have only 1 transaction was able to issue me documents that meet all the parameters of the Stake casino. The banks that I actively use were not able to issue me the corresponding document, almost no one writes their residential address in their certificates

[holydarkness]

I have only 1 transaction in the bank, because I do not use it, I use other banks, but only the bank in which I have only 1 transaction was able to issue me documents that meet all the parameters of the Stake casino. The banks that I actively use were not able to issue me the corresponding document, almost no one writes their residential address in their certificates

Do you mind to try submitting that bank account nonetheless? See if it will be acceptable? With the parameter being referenced in their article as shown above, of course. Otherwise, where are we with the possibility to use credit card statement?

[TemurBah]

I passed all 4 levels of verification and my withdrawal was unblocked.

But the Stake casino said that they would not return the 31611 USDT to me because I "violated some rules" and
"Stake may suspend, block or close a Stake account and withhold funds if required to do so under the Money Laundering Prevention Act or on any other legal basis at the request of any government agency."

Then I asked what I violated? Which government agency made the request for my funds to be seized?

To which they simply gave me a link to the main page of the rules and did not explain anything.

The funniest thing is that I can make deposits, withdrawals and play on their site, but they simply stole $31611 from me and apparently do not intend to return it! And would you trust a site that can simply steal your winnings and make a deposit there?

THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS, RUDE AND UNPROFESSIONAL, IT'S JUST A SCAM FROM CASINO STAKE

My winnings were stolen from me along with my deposit and I was not even told what I was accused of, although I fully verified my identity!

I was assured in the chat that after verification the funds can be withdrawn, you can check this on the screenshot that I am attaching to this letter: StepanFa writes that everything is fine and I will be able to use the funds after verification, but it turned out to be a scam! I am just sitting and crying! They have been hounding me for half a year with this fucking impassable verification, and when they realized that they can no longer not verify my account, they simply decided not to give the winnings!!! THIS IS A SHAME!!! THESE ARE TEARS!!! I am close to committing suicide.

https://ibb.co/9964J4FX
https://ibb.co/yBkYYWb2
https://ibb.co/kVKmLM8Q
https://ibb.co/27k37k51

[Mahdirakib]

But the Stake casino said that they would not return the 31611 USDT to me because I "violated some rules" and
"Stake may suspend, block or close a Stake account and withhold funds if required to do so under the Money Laundering Prevention Act or on any other legal basis at the request of any government agency."

They have accused you of money laundering. The decision is based on the terms 8.12

8.12 All transactions shall be checked in order to prevent money laundering. If a player becomes aware of any suspicious activity relating to any of the Games of the Website, s/he must report this to Stake immediately. Stake may suspend, block or close a Stake Account and withhold funds if requested to do so in accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act or on any other legal basis requested by any state authority. You acknowledge that the funds in your account are consumed instantly when playing and we do not provide return of goods, refunds or retrospective cancellation of your account.

How much was your deposit amount? And how much have you wagered with your deposited funds? As I have suggested you before, submit a complaint on CasinoGuru, Askgamblers or other mediators in order to get further explanation from Stake team. They don't give any reply to the accusation here.

[BlackyJacky]

8.12 All transactions shall be checked in order to prevent money laundering. If a player becomes aware of any suspicious activity relating to any of the Games of the Website, s/he must report this to Stake immediately.[/b]

Funny clowns!  

2 years and 4 months ago I became aware of their suspicious provably rigged in-house Black Jack activity and reported it!

But 2 years and 4 months later they still didn't compensate me for the unjustifiably lost 30,000 USD.

So Stake itself doesn't fulfill its own terms!

Stake may suspend, block or close a Stake Account and withhold funds if requested to do so in accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act or on any other legal basis requested by any state authority.

We can exclude that any authority requested from Stake to withhold OP's funds.

If so, the authority already would have contacted OP and Stake would have been asked to forward the funds to the authority.

You acknowledge that the funds in your account are consumed instantly when playing and we do not provide return of goods, refunds or retrospective cancellation of your account.

This term confirms that the Stake games are rigged, because only then the funds are consumed instantly.  

If the games are fair, I can of course win and my funds increase.

What sickheads are running this illegal and criminal online casino!

[holydarkness]

I think I'll need a deeper context to better grasp the situation here. The 31,611 USDT is the total fund in your account, that come from some winnings? Or were they purely your deposited fund? If the sum includes winning, may I know your total deposit?

Perhaps it's easier to just give us screenshot of your deposit page, now that you regained access to your account.

[TemurBah]

Hi! My deposit was 1500 USDT, I won 30111 USDT in the Sweet Bonanza slot, catching a multiplier of x1000

The casino continues to state complete nonsense about money laundering laws and their right to withhold or cancel any winnings.

I suggested that the casino make a request to the provider to make sure that the winnings were made honestly, but they do not want to, and apparently do not intend to do this and insist on their own.
The employees behave extremely unprofessionally and disinterestedly

[Mahdirakib]

Hi! My deposit was 1500 USDT, I won 30111 USDT in the Sweet Bonanza slot, catching a multiplier of x1000

In that case, it doesn't look like a money laundering activity. Perhaps, the live support agent has given you a random reason there. Anyway, 'holydarkness' has already shown interest to help you out here. He will forward your case to Stake team so that they give another look in it and explain the reason properly. Still, I think it would have been better to reach a mediator for getting better engagement from Stake team.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

Hi! My deposit was 1500 USDT, I won 30111 USDT in the Sweet Bonanza slot, catching a multiplier of x1000

In that case, it doesn't look like a money laundering activity. Perhaps, the live support agent has given you a random reason there. Anyway, 'holydarkness' has already shown interest to help you out here. He will forward your case to Stake team so that they give another look in it and explain the reason properly. Still, I think it would have been better to reach a mediator for getting better engagement from Stake team.

True that, winning a big multi definitely doesn't warrant a money laundering accusation. The problem is, we don't know if their accusation is about something that happened before that.
So for that case it would be interesting to know how long the account exists already and if the history really is only that one big win.