Online casino brand LeoVegas under investigation for sending marketing emails to suspended player

Online gambling service providers are to adhere to strict standards and guidelines when offering casino or other gaming options. When an operator breaks the rules, they are subject to penalties such as fines or the possibility of losing their licensing. In the UK, the LeoVegas brand is currently under investigation, as a player was found to be sent marketing materials to keep him gaming, despite having been locked out of a previous online gaming account. He was also allowed to use a stolen debit card to fund his account.

Accepting Funds and Sending Emails:

The Leo Gaming Group is an online casino company that operates several brands, including LeoVegas, Pink Casino, Castle Jackpot and 21.co.uk. The company is currently under investigation stemming from the actions of the brand.

A player was locked out of his online gaming account at LeoVegas in May of last year after support decided to flag communications as concerning during live webchat activities. The player was then sent emails from the marketing team of Castle Jackpot and Pink Casino. The emails offered the player access to bonuses and casino spins.

After a few months of being sent the emails, the player decided to sign up for a new account, this time at the 21.co.uk site, another brand of Leo Gaming group.

According to The Guardian…

The new account included the same player name and email that had been used before. However, to fund his new online account, the player decided to use a debit card that belonged to his mother. The player had stolen the debit card and after signing up, was able to gamble with £20,000 before the site requested an identification verification.

Once this request was made and the site realized that he was using a card that was owned by someone else, they blocked the gaming account. Soon after, the player was still sent marketing emails from several sites, including options that offered refunds on losses.

Repeat Offender:

This is not the first time that LeoVegas has been in the spotlight for being in breach of licensing conditions. Last year, the Gambling Commission required the site to pay a penalty of £600,000 due to several issues after the license of the company was reviewed.

The majority of the issues stemmed from the self-exclusion systems that were in place. With the systems, players have the ability to ban themselves from placing wagers at the sites operated by Leo Gaming. After a license review, the Gambling Commission found that 1,894 customers of the online casino were sent marketing content even though they had signed up for the self-exclusion group.

As far as this new instance is concerned, the Gambling Commission is said to be reviewing the case to determine if the site was in breach of their license terms and conditions.