The operators of an offshore gambling website that accepts online lottery wagers used Amazon gift cards to launder nearly $2 million over the past few years, a Department of Homeland Security investigator alleged in a recent application for a seizure warrant filed in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.
The filing alleges that the Costa Rica-based gambling site, 5Dimes, instructed U.S. customers to use Amazon gift cards to fund their 5Dimes online gambling wagers, in an effort to skirt the U.S. financial system. The feds say 5Dimes also paid out winnings to U.S. customers in Amazon gift cards, or in merchandise they picked out on Amazon.com.
"[T]he investigation has determined that 5Dimes has developed an alternative to the traditional online financial payment methods, which is unavailable to 5Dimes under federal law, in order to operate its illegal betting operation in the U.S.," the document reads. "This illegal alternative relies on the use of [Amazon gift cards], in violation of Amazon's terms of service."
The Homeland Security warrant application makes the case to seize a total of $159,000 spread among 15 Amazon accounts believed to be tied to 5Dimes. Over the years, the Amazon accounts, which bear names such as GC Lover and Blue Iguana, have held nearly $1.9 million in funds combined. Amazon has shut down the GC Lover account, according to the filing.
5Dimes does not charge a fee for bettors who fund their accounts with Amazon gift cards. The company has instructed bettors to purchase these gift cards at a traditional retail store, in cash, and email a photo of the card information along with a receipt. The gambling site also offers bettors a 10 percent bonus if they choose to receive their winnings in the form of Amazon gift cards added to their Amazon account.
The company also used the gift cards to purchase merchandise, such as 100 office chairs and 50 custom sweatshirts silkscreened with the 5Dimes logo, the application says.
An Amazon spokesman declined to comment. The betting site did not respond to a message sent to a company email account.
This is rather silly. Don't the feds have anything better to do?.
Interesting.
Very silly. They hating
You on point Lildarryl. It's always something.
Hmm? Does not look good for them. If I bet off shore, I would expect cash, not gift cards.
They will be under the microscope now. I have never bet off shore in the past and do not plan on it.
Plenty to do in the State of Ohio for me any ways at this time.
Was bound to happen sooner or later. That's why I never used this service. Was never willing to chance having to forfeit any money that I might happen to have in one of their accounts that might be subject to government seizure or operator theft.
I always thought it was a scam.
I win I know I can go to store and get my money.
Why should I wait for my money and also can't get what you win all at once.
Sure sounds like a scam to me.
Can't believe people are so stupid to even do it online !!
"in order to operate its illegal betting operation in the U.S"
Our U.S. LP members who claim they can wager 25 cents and collect $900 to $1 never said their winnings are paid in Amazon gift cards.
most lp members who preach all states. Who predict all states. Play Allstate's. Use 10nickels You have options for deposit and withdrawals. Lp is based out of NJ USA. But has worldwide members. Me personally I'd never want a Amazon Gift Card. Give me the moolah.
I assume 10nickels is a JOKE !!!
This offshore online gambling company that offers casino and lottery gambling is SHADY, SHADY, SHADY !!!
I'm surprised TODD even wrote an article about this company !!!
We are not supposed to mention the company in this article on LP !!! LP Members who use this company's services to play online, should view their illegal activities as a RED FLAG, that the company's days are probably numbered !!! It would be a WISE IDEA for LP Members to CLOSE their ACCOUNTS with this company, and SUSPEND ALL ONLINE GAMBLING through this offshore company, before it is too late and you lose all of the remaining money in your account !!! This company IS NOT LEGALLY OBLIGATED to REFUND you any money whatsoever from your account, or PAY YOU for any WINNINGS, and you have NO LEGAL RECOURSE against them !!!
GET OUT NOW !!!
Focus on playing the lottery in your own state legally !!!
LOL.
I'll say this destiny. With the color font and bold print, and exclamation points, you have a flair for drama.
For me, the only lotto gambling consists of going to my local store, and buying my lotto tickets, where they must be printed before my eyes.
That's it, nothing else. There is just too much of this or that corrupt thing going on.
They'll confiscate records and track down players. They'll have a few bones to pick with them.
Authorities in charge of tracking down people who ordered their tax free tobacco products
online made sure purchasers were identified and billed for the amount due. I know of some-
one who got a $3,000 bill.
Good advice, if not too late already....
Thats bull the feds are always hating.
For those of you that dont know that website pays 900-1 on pick 3 and pick 4. An to top it off you can also play for a quarter minimum. Often times ill box 20 double digit pick 3 numbers for a quarter each. Wagering 5 bucks total with a chance to win 75.
At the store those same bets would cost $10 and I would win $80.
And to top that off, now you'll be getting a hefty tax bill from Uncle Sam on the enhanced payouts.
Wow. This is what they did when they shut down all the off shore poker sites a few yrs ago and seized all US players accts. Hubby who works overseas and played from there but was registered as US player had a few hundred tied up in his acct for a couple of yrs. There were no tax ramifications because he had never collected winnings. But in deal feds made with off shore acct they were forced to make good- return balance of in his account--US players . But took a couple of yrs for it to be settled. He no longer plays online. Sure hope it does not go that way for US online lotto players.
Good luck all.
Did you ever fund your account or receive payment for winnings with Amazon Gift Cards ??
If you never been or played on the site, how can you testify and assume anything. I think we got some LP members working for the FEDS!! You don't have to go to an online site to get cheated or robbed, that can happen at ur local lottery retailer, we here about it all the time. So stop the hating people!! If u don't choose to play online that's ur prerogative!!
Ummm, how about the fact that at the present time that it's illegal ? It's also your prerogative whether or not you rob the corner store, duh !
This is all comedy!!! Duh!! Don't throw stones!!
Not so much comedy when they come knocking at the door to have a chat with you about tax evasion !
Not worried about that!!
Todd you are so quick to pounce on this story, I wonder why?. It's no secret you have it out for 5coins, I bet you couldn't wait to re-post an article such as this. Your source is bogus, maybe it was a good idea to contact 5coins first to get their side of the story. This article does nothing but inflames fear amongst US players. Yes, Bill Frist made online gambling illegal but only for political reasons. The bottom line is you're in bed with the states because it serves the interest of LP, seems to me that's all you care about. You have no problem selling memberships here, to help facilitate US players in gambling, there's no problem there. So, what is the gripe about, if your position is such, that you're somehow protecting US players from being burned I would argue otherwise, you're not. I find you to be nothing but an hypocrite and a tyrant. You don't want anyone copying LP's ideas but as soon as <snip> went down, you stole their calendar idea. Now LP have calendars and now since you have them and they no longer around, you want to limit the calendars to only 1 year back, so anyone who wants to look back further than a year, would have to PAY. LP is for LP only, you care nothing about the players here, so much so that not only for those that do willing pay, can't speak freely on what suppose to be a community board. Mention one thing about online gambling here you come, doesn't even matter the nature of the conversation. You just disgust me with this article, really. If anything they should be applauded for actually trying to pay US players but I know you don't see it that way. Your not a player, you don't purchase tickets, you don't use any of these systems here. You make your money from selling memberships and ads or whatever else bottom line is you're not a player. I think you should let the people here draw their own conclusions.
Are you going to delete my post and suspend me for speaking my mind? But, you know what that would mean, it would mean exactly what I posted that you're a tyrant. I will try to log back on later, I'll see what happens.
You have their name even banned, please explain to me how this is a public service, I'll wait
And just to add if you really want to do something constructive, why don't you help online gaming become a reality?
It's not tax evasion if you're not winning any money. Even at 900.to 1. Most folks still not winning. BTW. Don't get ur pressure high concerned about off shore number houses. It's illegal to receive oral sex in Georgia. I bet that didn't stop you from receiving it
<snip> boo you went in
On T.o. double D
it's coming soon. Illinois let you play pick 3/4 online.
Yup, they pay almost twice as much as any state lotto. They are also one of the most popular web destinations for online gamblers. Feds are just like the cops, they only show up when ur trying to have a good time. Maybe they should pay the Feds with DD gift cards.
Not sure your jumping on Todd for. He reports any lottery news no matter what it's about.
We in the US would all like a legitimate and legal outlet to play but you know that's never going to happen.
I lived in New Jersey 2011 - 2013. You can play the casino games only if your a resident of NJ.
Pennsylvania wants to tax lottery winnings. Maybe they ought to raise the payouts also??
Amazon most likely blew the whistle on this and wants to keep their nose clean.
How much the Fed can do to either close down or confiscate documents from this outlet is yet to be seen. Amazon transactions, credit card transactions, etc. It would seem that the Fed is only after the Amazon transactions. Will they confiscate all?? Will the Costa Rican government keep the feds out?? Don't think so. This outlet is probably tossing all their transaction in the fire as we speek.
I would like to see the Fed investigation report if it's available.
Try running that little nugget of wisdom and legal analysis by the prosecutors from the Attorney General's Office and see how far it get you.
That's because most prefer another option. Did that ever occur to you, or do you have a habit of wearing blinders all the time?
I bet he/she drives over the speed limit too.
no federal law against playing lottery online. Don't be scared. States are selling online now. Is.....Illinois. even power ball and mega millions. Them sites are selling tickets online. Learn the laws. Don't believe everything you read on a forum.
Go ask Rubbercheck Charlie! Lildarryl aka Flossdog
Joe in Clifton
"no federal law against playing lottery online."
This is true. A few weeks ago I did a little research on the Tax laws concerning this. I won't bore you with the details, but the bottom line is that it's NOT illegal to bet at that site. What is illegal is the FUNDING METHODS for your account balance. So what that site did is to take advantage a loophole by naming third party companies with no gambling related words in their names to make the transactions. This way, your bank will never suspect you are sending money to that place.
Recently they stopped using Western Union because WU is now blacklisting people who send money to that country. Usually the first or second time won't send a red flag, but continual use will put you on a blacklist even though you never use that site's name specifically.
states don't like it. Duh.... Because it's taking money out their mouths. Lol.
Gtech don't like it for same reason. Offshore makes millions that they want kept in the united states of America
True lildarryl. Even if the states paid the true odds of what a bookie pays, which is 90%, they would still rake in money because 90% of the people lose anyways. The only people that would get affected is the 10% who win anyways, they just win a lot more. Still that 10% who get a higher payout by the states would do no damage to their loads of fat cash they bring in every day.
It's a simple case of greed that's legitimized with a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo. Hypocrisy is replete throughout the government, Federal and State. I'm sure as we speak, they have think tanks working 12 hours a day to find a way to pay less than a 50% payout just to squeeze more money out of players. Millions is just not enough for them.
Goodbye Amazon Gift Card. Say hello to Walmart Giftcards. Lol
Todd 'pounces' on many, many articles as a service, source of entertainment and discussion
starter for members here. He does a good job of getting the in the news items out there and at
times posting a few per day.
I also don't understand your ire and accusations. Todd has been against the dime place for
quite awhile, effectively warning players against shady dealings. And yes he did go so far as
to ban usage of the organizations name in pm and thread conversations. His prerogative.
Contacting them for comment is silly and not part of what he does...just as he most likely did
not contact Abraham Shakesphere's family, the state of Illinois, the store owner who will not
be receiving his $50,000 bonus but instead, cake and balloons, and so on. The news items
here are of a public service nature...they serve many people and inform them of what they may
not know. To say he is all the things you said he is sounds as if you have ties to the gaming site.
You come across as defensive and hostile. To allow people to come to their own conclusions
is a given. Freedom of speech, such as yours, is a right. The ability to inform the public is a duty.
Im going to keep it short and simple
Everyone on this website that's either posting helping observing and Etc....
Is here to make money
We all know sometimes when any type of business online is not fake or not real some times it takes years until we find out..
Online is growing so fast in front of our eyes its crazy...
But
There is a butt ...it's our homework to find out and
determine if some websites are fake
Even if some websites are fake or not it's always great to get any type of news about it
I want you to you all to see another view on why somethings are so quiet
What ever you post here the world can see even if they are not a member of LP.
Its like having your businesse and your doing everything to protect it.. because you have eyes everywhere
Just remember folks this website Todd has should will and will always be benefit to everyone that gets on the site
Remember people when we are dealing with money everyone is not the same. .some people just wake up and rip people off in any type of way for a living.
Please family and friends don't bash me.. just want you to see another side of View if you were in a position that way...
I know somebody earlier posted something about advertising and why would he advertise..
well they may pay for advertising based on wherever they can and how ever they can which you'll be seeing
but what's important is what you post
because this is a very popular site which practically anything you have to search about numbers 90% of the time lottery posts will come up...
Without even putting lottery post in you search engine
That's big..