Bovada Account 70 Days Under Investigation, zero communication

[mt1334]

Wild that they can do this to people without a response. I put in 500 dollars of my own money and literally am not being told anything. At least give me my money back smh. Bovada ran by thieves

 

[mt1334]

They won’t even tell me my account number. I forget what it is since im a first time user of bovada

 

[sportsbettor5]

With all this talk critical of Bovada, I think I should note that someone in my network recently withdrew five figures from them with no issues at all.

 

[chilidog]

Bovada is a great rec book. They pay out large sums pretty quick. If you're a normal bettor, they're a good out to have.

Start beating their lines though, and they'll restrict you really fast. I consider it a badge of honor.

 

[Ace7550]

They robbed me. They robbed Skolar. They robbed Cruz. They robbed mt1334. They robbed...there will be another one soon.

 

[crew34]

Update:

I was recently contacted by Lou here at BMR to start working on my case. He said he would be in contact with Bovada about my situation. Yesterday evening I received this email from Bovada after 5 months of "investigation" and silence:

Hello,



Upon investigation, it has been discovered that your account is linked to other accounts involved in Bonus Abuse, a direct breach of the Player Agreement laid out in our Terms of Services. Please refer to the below clause for details:

6.8 Abuse of Bonus Programs. Bonus programs are intended for recreational bettors only. Professional players or players considered, in our sole discretion, to be abusing the bonus system by any means may have bonuses revoked and be subject to further sanctions. Bonus abuse may be defined as (but not restricted to) clients cashing out for the purpose of re-depositing, depositing on top of an existing balance, or referring new accounts that they are using themselves. Sanctions may be in the form of increased rollover requirements or loss of bonus privileges altogether for the offending Account as well as any linked Accounts. We reserve the right to restrict eligibility for special offers and bonuses when necessary. This includes (but is not limited to) placing geographic restrictions on match bonuses due to bonus abuse. Please refer to the Help section for further information regarding additional details concerning the eligibility, conditions, terms and usage of bonuses offered.

6.2 Fraudulent Activity. If, in our reasonable discretion, we determine that a player has engaged in fraudulent, unlawful, dishonest or improper activity (including, without limitation, the usage of a VPN, proxy or similar service that masks or manipulates the identification of your real location, or by otherwise providing false or misleading information, or by making bets, wagers or poker play through a third party or on behalf of a third party) we reserve the right to immediately terminate or deny a player access to their Account. In such event, all Account balances (including both deposits and any winnings) shall be forfeited and we reserve the right to disclose information (including the identity of the player) to applicable parties including but not limited to banks, credit card companies and/or any person or entity that has the legal right to such information, and/or taking legal action against such player.


By breaching our terms, the decision has been made to terminate our business relationship with you. Any available balance has been seized.

This decision was made with careful consideration of all the evidence and is final.


Regards,

Bovada Security


The timing is obviously not coincidental. They got some pressure to look at my case and this is what they came back with. Note their careful wording. They don't accuse my account of doing anything wrong. They say it is "linked" to accounts that have engaged in bonus abuse.

I will restate some facts because they seem material here:
1) I do not have multiple accounts at Bovada
2) I do not work for or with a syndicate
3) I do not place bets for other people
4) I have never used the referral program
5) I was very careful to never bet more than 50% of my deposit amount while clearing a bonus. But I am not even sure this is relevant since they don't accuse my account of abusing bonuses. Just being "linked" to them.


I don't know what being "linked to an account" even means tbh. Did someone place similar bets to me? I think many of us have people we tail for certain markets, so that is possible but would not be an abuse of ToS.

Their rules for bonus abuse talk about limiting bonuses, removing them etc. But they chose to seize my entire balance and end their relationship and "it is final".

They provide no evidence or reference for any of the alleged violations.

I am hoping BMR does not let this end here. I responded to Lou that this was not an acceptable outcome, and asked what if anything BMR can do. @BMR Genie i don't know how to tag him here or if he is even on the forums but in case he had info to add here or wanted to see this post, I would appreciate you looping him in.

Thank you to anyone taking the time to read this. Beware of Bovada rn, as its possible to have your balance seized for...well I am still not entirely sure.

Looks like they finally caught you. Now I feel scammed from all the misleading accusations you made.

 

[sportsbettor5]

Looks like they finally caught you. Now I feel scammed from all the misleading accusations you made.

What's this all about?

 

[skolar]

? Caught me....doing what?

Did you read what I wrote or what they wrote?

They "caught" me using a VPN on my work computer. This was and has always been fully disclosed in every post I have made and to BMR in my complaints. It also was supposedly resolved with Bovada before they sent my account into investigation limbo. I had a successful withdrawal in between switching to another device that wasnt my work computer, and had no vpn, and them locking my account. I never violated the VPN rule once I was made aware of that, and I was assured I was in the clear. I don't even know why it was cited in their response when the explanation doesn't actually mention the vpn.


If you are referring to their other accusation:

"My account is linked to other accounts involved in bonus abuse".

If you can explain what this actually means or is accusing me of doing you will have done a better job than Bovada. I will restate some facts here:

1) I do not own multiple Bovada accounts
2) I do not have multiple Bovada accounts on the same IP or household or anything that might make them believe I do
3) I did not partake in the referral program
4) I am not part of a betting syndicate
5) I never abused the bonus terms of service to the best of my knowledge (and I specifically avoided betting more than 50% of my deposit because I know that is the one that traps most people). I say best of my knowledge because their bonus rules are so vague that in theory if you deposit and claim a bonus while having 1 penny in your account you might be in violation of "depositing on top of an existing balancd". I followed the rules that I was aware of or had been warned about. They don't accuse me of abusing bonuses though so I might be getting a bit defensive about my use of bonuses for no reason.


I dont know what being linked to an account means. I have bought and sold crypto OTC before. Did someone I bought or sold crypto to have a shady history with Bovada? Is that enough for them to seize my funds? That theory has popped into my mind but it would be a ridiculous overreach and assumption on Bovadas part to assume I am "linked" to someone I bought or sold crypto otc with. These are usually strangers or light acquaintances.

I hope if a book ever wrongs you, that other people give you the benefit of the doubt that you are not giving me. As winning bettors the books do their best to stack it against us, and what we don't need is our own attacking us or blindly defending the books without accurate information.

 

[skolar]

@BMR Genie When you get a chance can you find out if my case is still being worked on or what the next steps might be? I would hope that BMR if able to talk to Bovada management could mediate this situation or at the very least get some more information about what they are accusing me of? They have essentially stolen 12k from me and I have been avoiding going to the gaming board or taking legal action against them in Curacao in hopes that BMR could get this resolved without too much fanfare.

I would still prefer to avoid that headache but I want to see where BMRs head is at on the issue before taking those measures. Thank you!

 

[Ace7550]

? Caught me....doing what?

Did you read what I wrote or what they wrote?

They "caught" me using a VPN on my work computer. This was and has always been fully disclosed in every post I have made and to BMR in my complaints. It also was supposedly resolved with Bovada before they sent my account into investigation limbo. I had a successful withdrawal in between switching to another device that wasnt my work computer, and had no vpn, and them locking my account. I never violated the VPN rule once I was made aware of that, and I was assured I was in the clear. I don't even know why it was cited in their response when the explanation doesn't actually mention the vpn.


If you are referring to their other accusation:

"My account is linked to other accounts involved in bonus abuse".

If you can explain what this actually means or is accusing me of doing you will have done a better job than Bovada. I will restate some facts here:

1) I do not own multiple Bovada accounts
2) I do not have multiple Bovada accounts on the same IP or household or anything that might make them believe I do
3) I did not partake in the referral program
4) I am not part of a betting syndicate
5) I never abused the bonus terms of service to the best of my knowledge (and I specifically avoided betting more than 50% of my deposit because I know that is the one that traps most people). I say best of my knowledge because their bonus rules are so vague that in theory if you deposit and claim a bonus while having 1 penny in your account you might be in violation of "depositing on top of an existing balancd". I followed the rules that I was aware of or had been warned about. They don't accuse me of abusing bonuses though so I might be getting a bit defensive about my use of bonuses for no reason.


I dont know what being linked to an account means. I have bought and sold crypto OTC before. Did someone I bought or sold crypto to have a shady history with Bovada? Is that enough for them to seize my funds? That theory has popped into my mind but it would be a ridiculous overreach and assumption on Bovadas part to assume I am "linked" to someone I bought or sold crypto otc with. These are usually strangers or light acquaintances.

I hope if a book ever wrongs you, that other people give you the benefit of the doubt that you are not giving me. As winning bettors the books do their best to stack it against us, and what we don't need is our own attacking us or blindly defending the books without accurate information.

And on top of all that is the fact that Bovada is robbing a lot of people right now. It's not like Skolar is a lone voice. Many of us are having this experience.

 

[skolar]

Still waiting for a followup from BMR after the newest update.

 

[ks1986]

Still waiting for a followup from BMR after the newest update.

Doubt they will do anything

 

[Ace7550]

Still waiting for a followup from BMR after the newest update.

They haven't done anything for months.

 

[skolar]

@BMR Genie do I need to send another followup email to the regular complaint email, to Lou, keep posting here and waiting? Just trying to see what I should be doing as I wait for a response from BMR on what the next steps are. Thank you!

 

[Ace7550]

@BMR Genie do I need to send another followup email to the regular complaint email, to Lou, keep posting here and waiting? Just trying to see what I should be doing as I wait for a response from BMR on what the next steps are. Thank you!

I don't think they're gonna help you. Many of us sounded the alarm back in January and they've done basically nothing this entire time.

 

[ks1986]

Agree with Ace, at this point I think you should explore whatever other avenues you can. I highly doubt BMR will be able to do anything.

 

[BMR Genie]

I am going to ask an update if there's any @skolar

 

[skolar]

I am going to ask an update if there's any @skolar

Was there an answer to this? I appreciate you asking either way!

 

[Ace7550]

Was there an answer to this? I appreciate you asking either way!

Your patience is incredible Skolar.

 

[bravomanny592]

I would like to get some mediation or correspondence in an ongoing issue I have with Bovada. I have filed a complaint using the form, but figured it couldn't hurt to post my situation here as well.

They abruptly closed my account for investigation "due to suspicious activity" back on November 4th, when requesting the max 9500 btc withdrawal. Total account value is roughly 12,000

This is a verified account that has made 7 or 8 withdrawals before and has gone through the KYC process.

The withdrawal prior to this 9500 withdrawal, I received a message from Bovada saying that they detected possible VPN usage. This makes sense because I was using it on my work computer. I called customer service immediately and asked them if I could just use a different device and everything would be fine, and they said it would. I stopped using my work computer and all VPNs after that.

It has been over 2 months with 0 correspondence from the Bovada investigations team. When I call Bovada or use their live chat they say that the funds are still there and I just have to wait for the investigations team to email me. There seems to be no requests from their end, no way to communicate with them, no way to escalate this. It is very frustrating.

I have read several threads on reddit and twitter about closed accounts/investigations.

Let me start by saying that none of the following common situations have occurred:

1) Same household as another user
2) Same IP as another user because I "logged in at their house"
3) Abuse of referral program (I am not registered to that)
4) Abuse of any TOS I can even think of

I posted this same thread in SBR before finding out that they don't deal with offshore books. Opti over there did say that it was possibly a good sign that they arent requesting anything from me as they might actually be investigating someone else, and somehow my account has been tied up in that. Even if that were the case the length of time and the complete lack of any communication seems completely insane.

Thank you!

Welp I read this whole thread and am now scared Bovada is robbing me too. Account got temporarily disabled earlier today after requesting a withdrawal. Guess im screwed also.