Neverending stories should be about a once-upon-a-time journey, heroes, beauty, love, conquests, even fantasy and magic, or whatever storytellers and audience deem worthy of not having an end.
But NO.
When it comes to some iGaming operators, the only neverending stories we hear are those of fake games, dubious licenses, playing waters crawling with online pirates, disregardful practices, blacklisted fortresses and probationary islands in the realm of unfairness for players’ safety.
Concomitantly, there are also exposing storytellers in the online gambling world which tend to report such inconspicuous, yet flagrant attempts whenever possible.
Sadly, monsters in some stories usually have to devour a few unassuming and unsuspicious punters first, before exposures can take place.
The good news is that these guardian reporters consider only one kind of story as neverending — the one that keeps on going until there are no more rogue stories to tell.
Unfortunately…
…today we have yet another one for you.
It’s about Four Crowns Casino (4Crowns Casino) and their fake Novomatic, NetEnt, IGT, EGT, Aristocrat, and Merkur games offered to players from the Netherlands.
Well-Known Settings
As is the case with any narrative arc, a story should start with the exposition, setting the table for new places, characters, and mood the reader is about to meet and greet.
But, there’s nothing new in Four Crowns Casino story: it’s déjà vu all over again.
It happens in the Curaçao jurisdiction. 4Crowns’ license might have been issued by one of four master license holders — Antillephone (8048/JAZ), CIL (5536/JAZ), Cyberluck (1668/JAZ), or Gaming (365/JAZ) — but it’s essentially a mystery because there’s no validation seal of approval on the casino’s website.
Even if you visit this casino from Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, or the United Kingdom, the seal of approval is still missing. [Don’t give us the look: yes, we tried; we told you it’s a neverending story for us.]
Thus, the main character might be or might not be licensed, who knows!
But, there’s no suspense or uncertainty at play here. See, even if it was licensed, grieving players could not enjoy a fair or good-minded mediation by the regulator, since Curaçao master license holders are notoriously difficult to reach.
Any hopes of having CIGA (Curaçao Internet Gaming Association) arriving in a manner of true online cavalry would be melted like wax on the warm Caribbean sun: they just don’t do that.
So, yup — the story mood is gloomy.
Rising Action and Story Wrinkles
Now, since we already have an inciting incident (fake games), surely there is a way to develop relationships between characters, and escalate the conflict in this story?
Of course! Enter 4Crown Terms and Conditions.
In a true manner of a generic, 6,468-word document picked up somewhere, T&C has remnants of another casino name that somehow survived powerful Find-and-Replace forces of, assumingly, Microsoft Word.
So, if you’re into originality in this chapter — we’re going to have to disappoint you.
But hey, you still got plenty of action in T&C!
For instance, you’re visiting “at your sole option, discretion and risk,” but “we do not warrant the legality of your participation,” although you’re free to “consult legal counsel in the applicable jurisdiction if you have any doubts about legality.”
[Which jurisdiction? Please, be patient.]
But, if you sit in front of your screen in Israel, the United States, South Africa, Italy, Denmark, France, Spain, Bulgaria, Belgium, Singapore, you probably never heard of this casino since they won’t accept you as a player.
[Wait, haven’t we just visited this casino with the U.S. IP address? Yes, we did. So how…? What are you, deaf or blind? It’s a mystery!]
Speaking of countries.
Since “you expressly represent, warrant, covenant and agree you have verified that it is entirely legal for you to make use of online gaming facilities in your jurisdiction,” — now you see which jurisdiction; it’s yours! — “and [that] there are no legal or other restrictions that would prevent or prohibit your participation,” apparently it’s quite OK for 4Crowns to target the Netherlands players.
Legal trivialities such as ‘strict ban on online gambling’ in the country and the Netherlands Gambling Authority expectations for the Remote Gambling Act to kick in no sooner than July 1, 2020 — so that the market can be open from January 1, 2021 — seems to be just a tiny fly in the online ointment of this casino.
[If you think someone might be breaking the law here, you’re right! But according to 4Crown T&C — it’s you!]
However…
…they do employ “sophisticated proprietary technology intended to seek out and identify users making fraudulent or unlawful use,” of the casino! So, if you by some chance get any “viruses or other code that may contaminate or destroy your mobile phone, system, or data,” well—you guessed it, it’s again on you!
If you’re not amped enough, let’s just put a cherry on top: naturally, no warranties or liabilities whatsoever.
Don’t You Just Hate When the Climax is Fake?
So, as our new and unassuming punter enters4Crowns from mobile or desktop device, facing simple yet visually striking lobby — probably being enticed by no less than $6,563 (€6,000) Welcome Package, as stated in T&C — the inciting incident kicks in instantly for those who know what to look for.
But for those who don’t, the incident occurs forcefully only after they play any of fake Novomatic, NetEnt, IGT, EGT, Aristocrat, and Merkur games.
Accordingly, the story tone changes.
We have underlined for to many times that “online casinos licensed by Curaçao cannot offer Novomatic or Aristocrat software,” to anyone.
What’s additionally alarming in this particular case, is that 4Crowns offer games that are not (yet) available online to Dutch players, which automatically means they’re fake. Also, official Novomatic slots cannot be played from the Netherlands.
Furthermore…
…sustained investigation by our moderators indicates that 4Crowns has been offering decommissioned NetEnt slots including When Pigs Fly, South Park: Reel Chaos, and Aliens. This means games have been taken out of official NetEnt servers; if you’re playing them anywhere, you’re playing the fake ones.
Finally, the findings of our engineers and games’ content managers conclude that this casino uses casinomodules.co and gradx.pro domains, verified to be fake.
Fake Aristocrat game at 4Crowns Casino
Fake NetEnt game at 4Crowns Casino
Fake Novomatic game at 4Crowns Casino
Why is this so important?
The original, proprietary slots are always offered from a strictly controlled game providers’ servers verified by independent experts. They certify that a slot works properly and fairly and that the payout you see at the casino’s website is factually correct.
Whenever you play fake games, you don’t have any certainties when it comes to the game outcome. Compound this with all we’ve said thus far in this story, and the notion of no man’s land where our beloved punter ends up emerges.
Action Subsides, Resolution Emerges
Of course, as in any story, what goes up must go down. So, as we close down on 4Crowns’ dubious business practice, one question — a subplot, if you will — remains:
What can YOU do to avoid ending up stranded in the piracy ocean?
Well, if you play a game run on Flash, you can click on the right mouse button and select Settings where you can see the details about the server. In other instances, when you play a game in your browser, you can click on the same button and select Inspect; you’ll get the same window as our snapshots show where you can easily spot the server’s name.
By checking our other Rogue Reports you can see other fake servers our engineers unearthed thus far.
Also, you can repeat the whole process while playing at verified casinos—those that for a fact have original games —and write down the names of legitimate servers of your favorite game providers.
That way, in time, you’ll have your list of servers and whenever you see the game you’d like to play, do your diligence and check the games’ validity.
Because…
…at the end of the day, the story of unscrupulous people ready to do whatever is needed to take your money away is neverending. It’s one thing to lose in the casino, but it’s a completely different thing to be robbed.
There’s no mystery here. Such people will never cease to exist.
What you can do is:
Make good use of your knowledge, prudence, discipline, and responsibility in gambling as your own neverending story.
As far as we go, until the last zeroes and ones of the code that writes fake games and pirated software exist, we shall be writing these stories. Hopefully, one day, there will be no more to tell.
But until then, we will keep searching, investigating, and reporting back to you never-endingly.
Jesús Alberto 4 years ago
Millions of thank you, LCB team and the Dejan Gavrilovic and him team, these are the real valuable works at the casino industry that will make a much more fair game every day, you have make a mark in the history, little or big, but done, now, its all about authorities and affected ppl or companies, they need to be strict...
Millions of thank you, LCB team and the Dejan Gavrilovic and him team, these are the real valuable works at the casino industry that will make a much more fair game every day, you have make a mark in the history, little or big, but done, now, its all about authorities and affected ppl or companies, they need to be strict and make this mark an example too, for all that rouge casinos, in own benefit, before the gambling slows the growing or even stop growing, thats almost impossible, but with rouge casinos here and there, any ppl paying them, and without restrictions of any bank or net operations, always will be a smart poor guy with a super idea of make a e-crime, if someone steals your wallet, its much more alarming for the soiety, if you lost kilos of dollars in a rouge casino, you are a st--id and why are u playing casinos? you are the bad guy. I hate that, Hope to them justice and punishment, for us, the players, we all need to claim if anyone have even played in that casino, make pressure, and specially providers, even they can take millions from that. They must be in a judge for each of their crimes, from each deposit user who starts a claim, to software providers, who waste millions to develop a simple game, must go bankrupt and then pay if they cannot, with prison. , this is the way rouge casinos will think twice before cheating us. Again, thank you so much for your hard work LCB team, this is what makes a fair game.
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booty 4 years ago
kudos LCB
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Gloriabe 4 years ago
Great to know about what is going on out there, thank you for this article. I have noticed myself that some Casinos cannot be trusted and I learned this on LCB's website. I am a member at some Casinos LCB has said are not trustworthy and I have noticed some funny business sometimes, I had been a member at these Casinos...
Great to know about what is going on out there, thank you for this article. I have noticed myself that some Casinos cannot be trusted and I learned this on LCB's website. I am a member at some Casinos LCB has said are not trustworthy and I have noticed some funny business sometimes, I had been a member at these Casinos before LCB issued this warning, after the Casinos changed hands. Thanks for these warnings LCB, very helpful!
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richard3245 4 years ago
Thanks for the article, Dejan! It really reminds that you should be attentive while choosing a place to play at
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ironjack18 4 years ago
Great investigative work from LCB once again, busting these fake casinos with pirated and unlicensed games. Way to go! It's important to know about these wrongdoings, and that there are still more and more crooks out there trying to take advantage of the regular gambler.
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Saskia Grigoleit 4 years ago
Yes, fortunately!
Ja dat dan gelukkig weer wel!
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Mouche12 4 years ago
Indeed Saskia, and incredibly stupid too, because they are always exposed!
Inderdaad Saskia, en ontzettend dom ook, want ze worden altijd ontmaskerd!
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Saskia Grigoleit 4 years ago
What a pity that there are still so many pirates floating in the sea bah!!! I understand that you want to earn money, but if you create a nice and fair casino environment and let satisfied and happy players return, you literally and figuratively earn a lot more and if you do it right and your players like many predecessors...
What a pity that there are still so many pirates floating in the sea bah!!! I understand that you want to earn money, but if you create a nice and fair casino environment and let satisfied and happy players return, you literally and figuratively earn a lot more and if you do it right and your players like many predecessors (from the good side) also manages to bind you through a bonus/loyalty program, you have created a great concept! Very sorry this again
Show moreWat blijft het toch jammer dat er toch nog zoveel piraatjes in de zee drijven bah!!! Ik snap dat je geld wilt verdienen maar als je een mooi en eerlijke casino omgeving maakt en tevreden en blij spelers daarmee laat terug keren verdien je letterlijk en figuurlijk een hele hoop meer en als je het goed doet en je spelers...
Wat blijft het toch jammer dat er toch nog zoveel piraatjes in de zee drijven bah!!! Ik snap dat je geld wilt verdienen maar als je een mooi en eerlijke casino omgeving maakt en tevreden en blij spelers daarmee laat terug keren verdien je letterlijk en figuurlijk een hele hoop meer en als je het goed doet en je spelers zoals vele voorgangers (vanuit de goede kant) ook nog een keer weet te binden door een bonus/loyaliteits programma heb je een mooi concept neergezet! Heel jammer dit weer
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nirvana 4 years ago
thanks for the heads up. will stay away
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Sylvanas 4 years ago
Great article Dejan! I liked your sassy style - it reflects my own sentiments about these crooks. ''Oh another one with dubious licensing and vague EVERYTHING of importance...hm, nothing suspicious here!'' Jokes aside: If there is doubt, there is no doubt. Always trust your gut feeling, it's trying to tell you to run,...
Great article Dejan! I liked your sassy style - it reflects my own sentiments about these crooks. ''Oh another one with dubious licensing and vague EVERYTHING of importance...hm, nothing suspicious here!'' Jokes aside: If there is doubt, there is no doubt. Always trust your gut feeling, it's trying to tell you to run, Forrest, run! Or, if still unsure, you can always open up LCB's Warning & Rogue Reports bundle of all that is wrong, find what the red flags of rogue brands actually are, and save yourselves a world of trouble. Thank you Dejan and LCB for yet another detailed report on the bad boys of the industry.
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2fast4u 4 years ago
gr8 job LCB. so many fake casinos these days, its crazy.
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mafalda 4 years ago
Thanks for the article, Dejan! I especially like your introduction :)
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