LeoVegas and Casumo under fire over problem gambling failings
Operators highlighted as rewarding problem gambler who lost £125,000
Online gambling operators LeoVegas and Casumo have been accused of encouraging a problem gambler to continue gambling by offering bonuses to keep playing on their sites.
According to the Guardian, a 42-year-old unnamed woman first began gambling online with Casumo in June 2017, losing over £54,000 with the operator during a single session in October 2017, where she placed losing bets of up to £5,000 per transaction.
She was sent three bonus offers during this session, with the operator sending an enquiry email about her spending 11 hours after the session ended, before blocking her account later that day.
The newspaper alleges she was made a VIP customer without being subjected to affordability checks and was given free spins, and free tickets to events at Wembley Arena.
Later in 2017, the woman registered with LeoVegas, placing bets totalling £382,844 in a 24-hour session on the site, including over £53,985 in losses on online slots.
She alleges that LeoVegas made her a VIP, allowing her to keep betting using credit cards, despite her banks declining over 291 deposit attempts and cancelled withdrawals of winnings totalling £27,550.
In January 2018, LeoVegas allegedly sent further bonus offers to the player, despite the individual gambling over £1m in bets, losing £94,049. The operator later agreed to pay over £34,000 towards her rehabilitation as a gesture of goodwill.
This is LeoVegas’s second reported instance of failing problem gamblers this month, with the company coming under fire for allowing a problem gambler to wager over £20,000 in stolen funds during 2018.
The operator attributed the issue to complexities involved in the migration of its 21.co.uk, Pink Casino and Castle Jackpot brand databases into the main LeoVegas database following their acquisition in January 2018.
In November 2018, Casumo was hit with a £5.85m UK Gambling Commission penalty for social responsibility and AML failings.
A spokesperson for LeoVegas said the company would not comment on individual cases, but asserted its committment to taking compliance “very seriously” highlighting significant company investment in the area.
Casumo had not commented at the time of publication.