[Spinia] Advice wanted. Setup for identity theft, or normal procedure?

[Nickoshii]

Hi,

Just want to say that I'm quite a cautious person, so I might just be worrying for no real reason, in that case; sorry.
I've never used online casinos before, so I'm not really sure whether the following is normal.

 

A few days ago I was with some friends, and we decided to play some online blackjack. For some reason I used my credentials to make an account on Spinia. 

Now I wanted to make a withdrawal, I then got a message that I needed to add a picture of my ID, and proof of address and deposit. Which I guess is normal procedure, though proof of address seemed kind of odd to me. 

I decided to add these documents, though I put a watermark on my ID and I blocked out my BSN (Something like a SSN). They were then approved, and support told me to make a withdrawal; which I then tried. However the following day I got a message that I needed to add a selfie of me holding my ID, this was at first not mandatory. So I asked why this was necessary, citing the fact that it wasn't listed in the documents page. All they were willing to tell me was that their security department "demanded" this information. 

After some more tries of asking them why it was necessary, I decided to just do it. I posted a selfie of me holding my ID, which I watermarked as well. I was then once more recommended to make a withdrawal.

This selfie was not approved, and I got a message saying that I needed to add a picture without marks (Though it was clear that it was my picture on the ID). A minute later they also send me a message that my watermarked ID pictures which were previously approved, were now no longer approved, saying that I "need to post an actual picture of my ID".

That's when I came here. To ask whether this is normal, or not.

Thanks in advance,

Nickoshii

[pinnit2015]

It's pretty par for the course - casino's refuse to accept pictures that have an edge missing in the picture so I think including watermarks would see most rejecting (though weird that they accepted)

Most UK based casinos will verify you electronically, negating the need for proof of ID/Address to be sent in, in most cases. 

The request for a selfie isn't a licence condition check but many places request it as part of their policy. 

[Fiekie247]

Yeah - Most important Rule - All four corners visible of Identity document as well as it might need to have an expiry date.

Selfie is a bad thing - I am not one for photos and feel verify bad taking a selfie holding ID, or uncomfortable is the better word, just does not feel right. I ask someone instead to snap.

But as Mr Pinnit advised. Pretty standard yes and you either do it if you want your money.

[Nickoshii]

11 hours ago, Fiekie247 said:

Yeah - Most important Rule - All four corners visible of Identity document as well as it might need to have an expiry date.

Selfie is a bad thing - I am not one for photos and feel verify bad taking a selfie holding ID, or uncomfortable is the better word, just does not feel right. I ask someone instead to snap.

But as Mr Pinnit advised. Pretty standard yes and you either do it if you want your money.

 

On 8/2/2019 at 8:43 AM, pinnit2015 said:

It's pretty par for the course - casino's refuse to accept pictures that have an edge missing in the picture so I think including watermarks would see most rejecting (though weird that they accepted)

Most UK based casinos will verify you electronically, negating the need for proof of ID/Address to be sent in, in most cases. 

The request for a selfie isn't a licence condition check but many places request it as part of their policy. 

Okay, thanks for the help/clarification guys. Guess what kind of threw me off was the way they handled the situation; and just being so vague when I ask them about it.

One final question, Spinia is licensed with the MGA (Malta) and from what I seem to gather online, that's quite a good license.

Would that suggest that they'll handle my documents at least with some care, or not?

[pinnit2015]

1 hour ago, Nickoshii said:

 

Okay, thanks for the help/clarification guys. Guess what kind of threw me off was the way they handled the situation; and just being so vague when I ask them about it.

One final question, Spinia is licensed with the MGA (Malta) and from what I seem to gather online, that's quite a good license.

Would that suggest that they'll handle my documents at least with some care, or not?

Good thing with the UK is that, in theory, casinos need to verify your identity and address prior to deposits. If they can't do this electronically, again in theory, you can't deposit. Even if they do they need to outline what they may need from your in the future. 

Don't think that there's anything in a casinos licence that outline the security measures they must have to handle documents - they have a duty to comply though with things like GDPR however and there will be retention periods of how long they hold the info per their legal obligations such as AML. They can be fined if they breach this. 

I'd expect MGA/UKGC to have reasonable security protocols but I have reported one UKGC casino for a data breach in the past - they sent me another persons info!-so it's not a certainty. 

Email, generally speaking, is not secure unless end to end encryption. Even if it is there are issues over who has access to that inbox - 4 people, 40 people? - I don't like it. Better to have a secure upload facility that can have better data controls around it.

Good luck in finding out which are ISO Accredited or NIST etc  Some sites, for example, list whether they are PCI-DSS compliant on their site: normally a good sign and if you check the terms and conditions you'll see reference to what standards they adhere to or a general statement on how they handle data. 

[pinnit2015]

Tell a lie - there maybe something in the licence that they must comply with all other relevant legislation or something like that...regardless of whether it's outlined, the Data Protection Laws will apply (subject to a few things)

[Fiekie247]

Just as a note. I made a withdrawal at spinia and it took a few hours. Just had to supply ID and POD and that was fine. 

[pinnit2015]

One thing I'd like to know the answer is why UK sites like Sky/Willy Hill etc do not ask for proof of payment method? I used to think they relied on something that verified me as the owner of the card but the BET365 thread would not appear to be the case. I've had 5 cards and 20k of withdrawals from WH in 5 years and never once had to take a pic of them.

So either they do something that others don't or...