Tag: Rapid

We recently found an interesting review on LinkedIn about the apparently illegal online casino Betsolino, published by Digital Marketing Strategist Michael Schmitt. According to the review, Betsolino has been identified as an illegal operation. Therefore, we looked at Betsolino and its payment processors. We discovered red flags and issued an urgent warning.

Online casinos are easily transferable digital assets. The transfer of Gammix Ltd's casinos to offshore operator Starscream Ltd raises serious questions about the continued illegal gambling activities in Europe. Despite massive penalties from the Dutch regulator KSA, Gammix appears to have simply shifted its operations offshore, where it continues to flout regulatory oversight facilitated by regulated payment processors.

Another day, another exposed illegal online casino facilitated via Cyprus. Payment processors play a crucial role in sustaining this underground economy. FinTelegram's research repeatedly reveals that without these facilitating payment processors, many illegal online schemes, particularly in the gambling sector, would not thrive. Currently, we are focusing on the brands of the collapsed Rabidi Group that continue to operate anonymously and unauthorized. Here is our report on Cazimbo.

As part of our “Follow the Money” research strategy, we look at online casino and gambling schemes and analyze the facilitating payment processors. We often discover FinTechs such as Revolut, MoonPay or Binance Pay, but also many open banking service providers such as Noda. We also discovered a number of facilitating payment processors at the online casinos of the Starscream Group in addition to illegal activities. Here is our review.

In April 2024, we conducted an initial review of the online gambling platform Spinbookie, which resulted in its placement on our Red Compliance list. Since then, we have delved deeper into this platform's background and uncovered significant concerns regarding its ownership and operational transparency. Our findings necessitate a thorough and scrutinizing update to our initial review.

As part of our analysis of payment facilitators in the high-risk segment of online casinos and gambling providers, we have already reported on the Curacao licensed provider NewEra. Like many other offshore casinos, it also operates via a payment agent in Cyprus. One of the payment facilitators for the NewEra casinos is the FinTech unicorn Revolut, through which players from jurisdictions in which NewEra does not have a license can make deposits.

The NewEra Group is another online casino and gambling operator that operates with a license in Curacao and a payment agent in Cyprus. Although NewEra does not have a license in Europe or North America, it attracts customers and their deposits from these regulatory regimes. Revolut, Binance Pay and MiFinity appear to be the most important payment facilitators. Binance Pay is offered at all NewEra casinos.

We've uncovered a concerning trend in our recent analysis of the online casinos and gambling sector, particularly focusing on the high-risk aspects of these activities and their associated payment processors. Many payment processors, including those regulated by financial authorities, seem to be unknowingly engaging in unauthorized and, consequently, illegal online gambling operations. FinCrime Observer published an interesting report about this scene and its payment processors.

The offshore broker FP Markets is operated through FP Markets LLC, registered in St. Vincent & The Grenadines and related to the CySEC-regulated broker of the same name. The only discernible difference between the CySEC-regulated and the unregulated offshore broker is the domain. The offshore mutation of FP Markets was recommended to us via Daily Forex. The KYC at onboarding does not comply with ESMA requirements. We have added FP Markets to our Orange Compliance list.

It is currently common for online casino, sports betting and gambling operators equipped with an e-gaming license in Curacao to have a payment subsidiary in Cyprus. This also has the advantage of having a location in the EU. The operator of Bet Swagger, Usoftgaming N.V., has also chosen this structure and processes the payments of its customers via the Cyprus-registered Pulsion Processing Ltd. We have heard massive complaints from several customers of this scheme. Therefore, we issue a warning.

FinTelegram has looked at both investment and trading providers and facilitating payment processors over the past few years. The latter are the most important element for the operation of B2C services. Customers need to be able to deposit and withdraw. Very often we have found violations of regulatory requirements and AML/CFT specifications. Going forward, we also want to take a look at gambling schemes from a payment perspective, starting with MGA-regulated Shark77 Limited.

We recently started to follow the Key Way Group of the Romanian Octavian Patrascu and published an initial review. Key Way Group operates the broker Capex with the CySEC-regulated Key Way Investments Ltd and the broker clicktrades via the offshore entity KW Investments Limited in Seychelles. We took a closer look at the two brokers and found in our initial review on 14 June 2022 that Capex violates the ESMA and CySEC regulations by accepting pre-KYC deposits in theoretically unlimited amounts via bank wire. Here is the review.