More and more banks are reporting illegal casino players

For many gambling enthusiasts, the legal gambling market is currently not really attractive. The strict player protection measures such as the minimum playing time of five seconds or the autospin ban often restrict slot fans. However, the black market is becoming increasingly ‘dangerous’ for casino players. Why? Quite simply, more and more banks and payment service providers are reporting suspicious gambling transactions to the police.

It was only at the end of February this year that we asked ourselves in an article how to react correctly when mail from the police about illegal gambling lands in your letterbox. The fact is that more and more banks and other payment service providers are ‘snitching’ on their customers to the investigating authorities. They are even legally obliged to do so if there is a suspicion of illegal transactions. Of course, this also includes transactions at online casinos without a German licence. The example of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania clearly shows that the credit institutions have recently reported significantly more customers than a few years ago.

Almost 100 cases of illegal gambling in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

As the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Office of Criminal Investigation recently announced, there were a total of 99 cases of publicly organised gambling without official permission in the past year. The majority of the cases resulted from previous reports or tip-offs from banks and other payment service providers about suspicious transactions. By way of comparison, there were no cases at all in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in 2020, for example. The number of reported cases was also always in single figures in other years.

The 99 cases in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania were spread across the following regions:

• 62 cases in the Rostock region
• 21 cases in the Mecklenburg Lake District
• 6 cases in Vorpommern-Rügen
• 4 cases in Schwerin
• 4 cases in Vorpommern-Greifswald
• 2 cases in the Ludwigsburg-Parchim district

Banks increasingly loyal allies of the police

In the recent past, many banks and credit institutions have started to report suspicious gambling transactions to the investigating authorities at a lower threshold. They are also legally obliged to do so. In these cases, the police usually initiate an investigation, write to the person concerned and then forward the case to the public prosecutor's office, which decides whether to press charges. Back in November 2022, we at GambleJoe reported on a BGH ruling according to which a bank does not have to repay an authorised gambling credit card payment.

Here at GambleJoe, you will only find such legal online casinos with a German licence:

All legal online casinos at a glance!

Image source: https://pixabay.com/de/photos/gebäude-bank-architektur-50084/