Bovada credit card payment processors skimming again

[Dan Druff]

This has happened before, and other players have complained about it in the past.

Bovada charges a 5.9% credit card fee. That's kinda brutal, but at least you know that going in.

I made two $500 deposits, so the fee should have been $29.50 each, for a total of $529.50 each.

Instead, I was charged $569.13 both times -- almost a $40 skim for each one.



I redacted the name, though honestly this shitty processor (and by extension Bovada) doesn't really deserve the courtesy. But I don't want to name this and screw things up for Bovada... unless they won't make this right.

This was NOT charged as a cash advance, nor does my bank have foreign transaction fees. I have deposited with this exact card in the past to Bovada with no issues.

Keep in mind that Bovada's payment processor -- not Bovada itself -- is the one guilty here.

However, Bovada takes a very cavalier attitude about this, attempting to blame it on "foreign transaction fees" or "cash advance fees", even if that's not the case.

They also unreasonably demand that you send them a "running bank statement" with your full name, credit card number, and the transaction. There is no such thing. American banks do not issue a full "running statement" prior to the completion of your billing cycle. It can take as much as 6 weeks from the time of the charge to see an actual statement generated.

When I told them I could send them a screen shot of my transaction list, with the bank name, my name, and last 4 of my CC number, they told me that "wasn't enough".

After speaking with a supervisor, I was told to submit that, and "it should be fine".

I'm very skeptical.

I will update the progress on this.

To repeat, this is NOT Bovada skimming, but it's their shady Chinese credit card processor doing it, and Bovada doesn't make it easy to recover the money.

They did advise me, in a roundabout way, that such skimming is getting increasingly common, and that I should use bitcoin instead in the future. (I wasn't forced to do this, but I was highly advised to do so.)

What a mess.

[Online Veteran]

This really sucks, I hope you get it worked out soon. May I ask why you are not using Bitcoin?

[Dan Druff]

This really sucks, I hope you get it worked out soon. May I ask why you are not using Bitcoin?

I didn't have any, and didn't feel like waiting to acquire it. It's brutal to acquire bitcoin quickly unless you know someone who wants to sell at the moment.

[Online Veteran]

I can buy up to 2K immediately with my CC on CB, although the fee is around 3.9%. I would assume you could do the same thing if you have built up your reputation with them. PM me if you ever need me to buy some for you. I don't want to make any money off of you, at the same time I don't want to lose any either.

[Dan Druff]

I can buy up to 2K immediately with my CC on CB, although the fee is around 3.9%. I would assume you could do the same thing if you have built up your reputation with them. PM me if you ever need me buy some for you. I don't want to make any money off of you, at the same time I don't want to lose any either.

My bank gives me 2% back on CC transactions.

In fact, the bitcoin might be worse because of the crappy transaction fees nowadays. And it's slower to move onto the site, which is a problem if you need the deposit to reload at a table.

[BeerAndPoker]

I won't trust any of these shady processors anymore after a declined transaction from 5Dimes lead to them stealing my card info and someone trying to run three transactions down in North Carolina. My guess is an internal low paid worker sold it to someone on a dark web or a similar type of thing.

You never know with these sites/processors but the world keeps on getting more international scammers going after Americans.

[snake_in_the_ass]

I can buy up to 2K immediately with my CC on CB, although the fee is around 3.9%. I would assume you could do the same thing if you have built up your reputation with them. PM me if you ever need me buy some for you. I don't want to make any money off of you, at the same time I don't want to lose any either.

My bank gives me 2% back on CC transactions.

In fact, the bitcoin might be worse because of the crappy transaction fees nowadays. And it's slower to move onto the site, which is a problem if you need the deposit to reload at a table.

Does Bovada give you a deposit bonus to make up for their credit card fees? What about if you used Bitcoin? And the transaction fees will plummet again soon. I am seeing them as low as 50 cents.

[snake_in_the_ass]

This really sucks, I hope you get it worked out soon. May I ask why you are not using Bitcoin?

I didn't have any, and didn't feel like waiting to acquire it. It's brutal to acquire bitcoin quickly unless you know someone who wants to sell at the moment.

You are willing to pay 5.9% for a credit card fee but not the same for a Bitcoin ATM? You can find some with fees in that range. Let me know if you need help figuring it out.

[Dan Druff]

I didn't have any, and didn't feel like waiting to acquire it. It's brutal to acquire bitcoin quickly unless you know someone who wants to sell at the moment.

You are willing to pay 5.9% for a credit card fee but not the same for a Bitcoin ATM? You can find some with fees in that range. Let me know if you need help figuring it out.

Why would I drive to an ATM to save $0 on fees?

[snake_in_the_ass]

You are willing to pay 5.9% for a credit card fee but not the same for a Bitcoin ATM? You can find some with fees in that range. Let me know if you need help figuring it out.

Why would I drive to an ATM to save $0 on fees?

To save the headache of getting skimmed by some Chinese guy in Hong Kong ?