Hopa - approved documents which weren't mines

Ruling

Found for the Casino - Hope Casino have provided sufficient evidence for us to establish that it's highly unlikely that someone other than the complainant set up this account. As such we will take no further part in the representation of this player.

Read our Hopa Casino Review.

Player's Complaint

Hi

I've been dealing with Hopa casino due to an account being set up in my name.

I have been subject to fraud in the last month with my bank contacting me on the morning in question to state there was activity on my account and a log in to my bank from another phone.

My card has been changed 3 times in the last 2 months due to an issue since receiving a new phone from Three. A scan was eventually done on my phone and there were 16 malware found on it which was cloning my data.

On the morning of the 11th March I received a text from Nationwide or which i thought was a genuine text from Nationwide stating my account had been blocked due to incorrect log in attempts. Still sleep I clicked this link and I've had nothing but problems since.

I also received an email from PayPal stating they had blocked my PayPal due to suspicious activity and log in from other parts of the UK.

On the 12th March I woke up and went to work and once again received another call from Nationwide stating they were concerned for activity on my account. They advised there had been activity using an old device (the device which was returned to three in february via recorded delivery). They went through transactions and there was loads I didnt recognise including £5114.75 to AG Comms. I searched this company as I didn't know who they were and started calling the companies associated with AG COMMS and was advised the transactions were for Hopa. I had never previously heard of Hopa and the account which was set up had been done so that evening. I raised a complaint stating this was somebody defrauding me and that I wanted them to look into the account.

The account was in my name and all the details were correct however an old previously blocked card due to fraud was attempted to be used on the account.

I asked why somebody would be allowed to deposit over £5000 without any verification checks.

I was advised that there would have to be checks done for over £500 or else no deposits would be allowed until this was done. At this point I thought not only was somebody using my bank details but also my identity so began to panic.

The agent raised a complaint.

I was then contacted by [EDIT] who stated she was my account manager at 14:27 on the 26th March I believe. [EDIT] talked through everything with me and confirmed that I was given the correct information and that when the deposit amount goes above £500 'KYI' checks have to be done. I asked why this level of protection by the company to protect the consumers wasn't done and she said it was. I advised I definitely didn't send any identity or anything like this and asked to be sent copies to see what was going on. When [EDIT] looked into it further she said that somebody had clicked 'approve' on the verification checks even though HOPA never received any documents from anybody regarding this account.

[EDIT] advised me that the security checks had failed me as a customer and as I didn't deposit this money and Hopa hadn't protected me against this that she would look at getting my money back. She advised she would contact me again in a few days.

By the 4th April I still hadn't heard from [EDIT] so I contacted Hopa by phone again and spoke to [EDIT] @ 1:45pm. [EDIT] advise she would have [EDIT] contact me asap but whilst on the call also confirmed that if the checks hadn't been done (which they hadn't been) the deposits would not be allowed to go above £500 until these had cleared, the 2nd agent to confirm this. [EDIT] also advised that the verification checks were approved on the 14th March... 2 days after I made my complaint regarding this issue which I find very convenient since I was advised deposits over £500 wouldn't be allowed until these had been approved.

I again asked [EDIT] for copies and was advised although documents were showing as validated, they hadn't actually received anything in regards to this which was an issue at their end.

Again I was advised she would arrange for [EDIT] to contact but till today still no luck. I have responded to the email I received numerous times to try and get some resolution but nobody is responding and now when I try and call the number provided on the Hopa site it's cutting off as if its disconnected.

I don't know what else to do to try and resolve this.

Hopa have admitted documents were not sent but we're approved. If this mishap hadn't happened I would be angry at the fact somebody had defrauded me for £500 and looked at my options for getting it back, however due to system/technical/admin error this figure is over £5000.

I hope you can help... any questions don't hesitate to contact.

Thanks

[EDIT]

Read the casino review

7 Responses

ThePOGG

April 16, 2018

Hi Peat2018 - welcome to ThePOGG.com!

Before we go any further I need you to clear something up for me. You state that "an old previously blocked card" was registered. How have deposits been processed if the card used was already blocked?

This issue is of a very serious nature and is one that you should be contacting the police about. We will reach out to the operator but in all likelihood they will not take any action without a police investigation.

Thanks,

ThePOGG

Peat2018

April 16, 2018

Hi

I was advised that the card had been attempted to be registered. This was a blocked card due to fraud (There was an issue with fraud on my phone where my details were being cloned)

I was advised The card was declined causing Hopa to suspend the account due to 'multiple cards'

The deposits were made from the new card i had been sent on the 8th March by Nationwide which had been registered to my new phone by this point.

What's annoying me is that 2 agents from Hopa have said that the system security had failed me, the first agent advised she would be wanting her money back aswell, but following these conversations I am now not being responded to. I was advised by the first agent as I said above that when the deposit amount goes over £500 you have to verify yourself in order to continue depositing. If this had been the case I would be disputing £500 instead of £5000... but again this is due to somebody clicking that verification checks had been done when in fact no documentation had been received.

ThePOGG

May 10, 2018

Hi Peat2018,

I've spoken to the operator regarding this issue and to move forward and allow them to discuss your complaint and account freely they need your written consent to share information with us. As such I will shortly email you a letter that you need to complete, print, sign, take a photograph of and email to the Hopa support email address while CC'ing [email protected]. Once you have done this we will follow-up with the operator.

Thanks,

ThePOGG

ThePOGG

May 18, 2018

Hi Peat2018,

I'm following-up on the above?

Thanks,

ThePOGG

ThePOGG

May 25, 2018

Hi Peat2018,

If we haven't heard from you by Friday the 1st of June I'll assume you no longer want our help with this issue and close this complaint.

Thanks,

ThePOGG

ThePOGG

June 1, 2018

Hi Peat2018, We haven't asked you to email us this document. This is permission to allow the operator to discuss your account. It needs to be sent to the operator. I asked you to CC us so that we can confirm when the operator receives this document. With regard to your account, I've just reset your password again and tested your account successfully. There should be no problem with you logging in with the username Peat2018 and the password [EDIT]. Thanks, ThePOGG

ThePOGG

June 15, 2018

Hopa casino have provided sufficient evidence for us to establish that it is highly likely that this player was in control of their account at the point where this play took place. As such we will take no further part in the representation of this player's complaint.

This ruling does not impact the player's right to take their case to Hopa's ADR IBAS.

ThePOGG