Most gamblers in all probability see casinos as impenetrable fortresses that shield money and on line casino chips in any respect prices. There’s the notorious “eye in the sky” safety digital camera system, quite a few safety guards, pit bosses looking out for cheaters and card counters, and bars on the cashier cage to maintain potential crooks at bay.
However, a current spree of on line casino scams has proven that these tight safety measures will be overcome in a number of the easiest methods by artful con artists impersonating on line casino administration. Quick cellphone calls and even textual content messages have led to daring criminals making off with thousands and thousands of {dollars} in money – proper from the on line casino cage.
The Setup
Those who’ve seen the movie Ocean’s Eleven might think about elaborate plans during which crooks infiltrate the on line casino itself after which discover a option to smuggle out giant quantities of money. Or perhaps an armed robber makes use of firearms and pressure to seize the loot after which make off in a getaway automotive or on a motorbike.
Instead, these thefts use a a lot easier but efficient and well-planned scheme. In most instances, such because the one involving Erik Gutierrez Martinez final June, somebody locations a name to a on line casino cage and says they’re an govt or official with the on line casino.
The individual then requests a sure amount of money to pay a authorities official or for another pressing expense. The “executive” then asks an worker within the cage to ship the money at a location away from the on line casino, the place somebody can be ready to gather the money.
In the Martinez case, an worker from Circa Casino made three funds to areas round Las Vegas for a complete of $1.2 million. Police imagine he was additionally a part of the same rip-off on the Eureka Casino Resort in Mesquite and the Golden Nugget in Laughlin. He finally pleaded responsible and was given a suspended sentence of as much as 96 months. Authorities imagine he was working for a bigger felony group.
Who would fall for one thing like that? More than you’d suppose.
It grew to become such a fear for casinos in Las Vegas that the Nevada Gaming Control Board even issued warnings to casinos in the summertime of 2023 letting them know in regards to the rip-off and reminding cage workers to be vigilant about following protocols.
“Criminal subjects use social engineering tactics to pose as casino executives,” the discover learn. “The cage scam is sophisticated and has been surprisingly effective in defrauding casinos. Subjects gain intelligence on high-level casino owners, employees, managers, and others connected to the casino’s money operations. The fraudsters then contact cage employees using a variety of scenarios to manipulate personnel based on a fear of negative consequences for casino employees and/or operations.”
The Latest
There have been a number of of these kinds of crimes during the last couple years. In March of final 12 months, $500,000 was walked out of the Monarch Casino in Black Hawk, the most important on line casino heist in Colorado ever. The worker was initially charged with the crime, however all expenses have been dropped when prosecutors found she and her household had been threatened by the precise thieves into committing the crime.
Another case got here in Michigan final July, when a person was arrested for stealing $700,000 from the Four Winds Casino. A caller to the cage claimed to be a on line casino govt and by some means satisfied an worker to ship the money 85 miles away.
This month, Rosa Barria, 36, was taken into custody for allegedly being concerned in the same scheme at Sam’s Town Casino in Las Vegas. Someone posed because the on line casino’s lawyer and one other because the on line casino’s director of IT to collect $750,000.
Just this week one other case emerged in South Dakota. Roberto Carlos Gonzales Miranda and Roberto Orellana, each of Nebraska, have been indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit theft from a gaming institution on Indian lands, and transportation of stolen cash.
Law enforcement alleges somebody phoned the cage at Grand River Casino posing as a collections agent for the U.S. Postal Service. The “collector” mentioned the on line casino owed $700,000 in charges for an audit and inspection and would accrue extra fines if the funds weren’t made shortly. Federal officers say the worker took $352,000 to an confederate within the scheme after later being directed to ship the cash in a parking zone.
As safety guide, convicted fraudster, and writer of the guide that impressed the movie Catch Me If You Can, Frank W. Abagnale notes: “A con artist’s only weapon is his brain.”
*Images from Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
