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Points for playing are targets of thieves — often casino employees
Monday, Aug. 17, 2009 | 2 a.m.
In Today's Sun
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- New loyalty cards show allure of local high-limit gamblers (12-1-2004)
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Beyond the Sun
At the heart of a casino’s marketing machine lies its players club, which uses swipe cards to track gamblers’ play as they rack up points to redeem for meals, hotel stays, merchandise and even cash.
So critical are these massive, good-as-cash databases to casino profits that, if there were to be an Oceans 14 movie, the next great casino heist might target the computers that manage them.
And it wouldn’t be fiction. Casino insiders are raiding gamblers’ loyalty points, according to casino regulators and security experts.
In one scheme, says Gaming Control Board member Randy Sayre, casino employees with access to players club databases transferred points from customers’ accounts to bogus accounts from which an accomplice was able to redeem the points for tangible rewards. Employees also have created accounts and loaded them with bogus points.
The thefts are sometimes uncovered when the customer discovers his account has been drained. Were it not for customers’ vigilance, some thefts might go undetected.
Sayre declined to identify the casinos or further describe the suspects, and arrest information for unidentified suspects is not available.
Control board agents have arrested multiple players club thieves in recent years in scams that have cost casinos hundreds of thousands of dollars, Sayre said.
The thefts have prompted new course work focusing on players club security as part of casino surveillance and security programs at UNLV and the University of Nevada, Reno, and the control board will hold workshops in coming weeks with casino operators to try to clamp down.
Stealing players club points is the latest development in casino thievery, which includes such old-school efforts as swiping chips, manipulating cards or using metal devices to tamper with slot machines.
Catching insiders who embezzle points can be difficult, security experts say.
A more elaborate scenario involves slot technicians who roam the floor with generic players club cards used to test slot machines. In some cases, slot techs have loaded those cards with points that can be transferred to a “player” who puts in his card afterward.
Many Nevada casinos are either unaware of these problems or aren’t doing enough to stop them, experts say.
“They’re aware of this, but nobody wants to admit that it happens at their property,” says Gary Powell, a casino security consultant and former Gaming Control Board agent.
The increase in players club thefts isn’t surprising given that most casino crimes involve slot machines as well as employees, Powell said.
Casino employees not only have access to sensitive information but also can attempt to cover their tracks, he said.
As an example, a players club supervisor at a casino in Washington state was indicted by federal prosecutors in May for draining about $20,000 worth of points earned by casino players and issuing cash vouchers that were redeemed by friends.
Casino security efforts are still focused on more traditional cheating methods and haven’t caught up with the massive growth of casino players clubs, said Derk J. Boss, a loss protection consultant and lecturer at UNLV and UNR.
“Most casinos don’t pay a whole lot of attention to this yet, which is why I am teaching it,” said Boss, former corporate vice president of surveillance and compliance for American Casino & Entertainment Properties, including the Stratosphere hotel-casino.
After “getting burned” a few times, the company stepped up its security efforts concerning players clubs and now makes it a daily priority, he said.
“We never knew these clubs were going to grow to where they are today,” Boss said. “Years ago you’d sign up for a card and get a coffee mug. Now they’re the center of the marketing operation.”
Over the years, technological advances — especially electronic slot machines that are hooked up to computer servers and spit out winnings in the form of paper tickets — have opened new doors for thieves, including counterfeit tickets and the manipulation of player records.
“Instead of stealing buckets of quarters, they can move money around more easily,” Boss said. “Everything is computerized.”
These advances also have yielded more tools to combat theft, such as daily records of slot activity. Managers can use these records to sniff out discrepancies from typical payouts by slot machines, for example. Players club systems may also show which employees have accessed the records and how they were changed.
Not all scams involve outright theft. In some cases, casino hosts — who are often compensated based upon the gambling volume of players on their roster — have manipulated points records to receive credit for players who were assigned to other hosts. And some creative cheats have opened multiple players club accounts to obtain several cards, which they insert into machines that are played by gamblers who don’t have cards of their own. The thieves collect the cards after the players leave.
Poor communication and training is mostly to blame for the persistence of players club scams, Powell said.
“This business is very territorial. There’s little communication between the slot manager, surveillance and security. You need teamwork to catch this, but ego and complacency stand in the way.”
Discussion: 19 comments so far…
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I lost points due to "inactivity" as I had been out of the State for about eighteen months and never questioned this figuring it was proper, which it could be...never questioned it, never checked into it.
Most casinos use a 12month system of use it or lose it points and rate of play. So in 18 month of non-use, you lost many if not all your points.
I went to NY/NY 4 years ago to get a players card, and they told me my points would expire in 28 days. Why? "Because I was a local". Wynn wouldn't give me a real card until I racked up 500 points on a temp card. Right. May all the Strip casinos get what they deserve, and rot in hell....
And you thought you couldn't squeeze more blood out of a stone ...well now you have.I'm not a bit surprised.Think of the access these employees have.It's stupid of a hotel NOT to periodically check things like this out.Employees should be reminded and advised these checks are underway without notice(tends to keep people on their toes).
Will they never stop thinking of ways to scam their customers?
You have to be an absolute moron to gamble in these joints.
Illuminating article. Kind of makes Nigerian scams look juvenile. same story, different day.
Customer vigilance, seems to be the key. I don't have any points at this time as my ex got them in the settlement, the dog too. Is nothing sacred?
That was the exact opposite of my experience at the Wynn. My out of town daughter and I both got cards at the same time. We each got $25 play immediately because we had just been to a show there. Since then I've gotten $10 play every week and four time a year it is upped to $25 play. I get the notice by email. 2 buffets every time I rack up 500 points. And I'm not a player. I probably use my free play once a month and haven't earned more than 1500 points over the two years I've had the card. So it certainly isn't based on play but rather on being a local. My out of town daughter gets nothing. :-)
I hope someone knows more than I do because I cannot understand how this project and City Center are going to survive among others.
It is amazing that thieves will find a way to steal, no matter what. Their greed always catches up with them. Think of the cards as a tourist's wallet. If the thief emptied the wallet, it would be noticed. If they plucked a 10 from it and put it back, some wouldn't ever notice. Fortunately, thieves are greedy types and it usually catches up eith them. Like cheaters at the tables, I imagine their carreer in LV casinos is over the minute they get caught. I know of an accountant who could make good money honestly, but he always seems to go from scam to scam, rather than do it honestly. Someday it will catch up with him!
Having worked at a strip casino I knew of people doing this - I didn't agree with it but they kept saying they only 'hit' the players that would let their points just about expire (like 11 1/2 months in since points expire at 12 months at my casino anyway)... Like I said, I still didn't agree with it but comparing it with all the other crime going on in the valley, this shouldn't become the 'main focus' of any department other then the casino security teams. The flag was raised to me when my 'friend' would eat at the casino restaurants all the time on 'someone else's' dime... Never really understood it until I straight up asked him one day - "How are you doing this all the time?"
I see how you are Sun, this story is all about distracting from the real crimes going on daily at every casino, I am talking about rigging every game.
Lost my Harrahs' points (a lot) after six months inactivity. Pretty much negated any loyalty they were intended to build.
The casino needs to get ahead of this and start taking this serious because employee are robbing them blind.
Casinos don't "rig " games and the gaming industry is subject to the same pilfering and theft of any business, both more and less so. :)
This is the most highly regulated industry in the nation (with the exception of the nuclear and medical industries) and management takes a non-nonsense approach to thievery and anything that might jeopardize their gaming license. Yes, this thievery still it occurs and it is true that some territoriality exists between security, surveillance, slot operations, and players club management. Internal audit needs to step up its circumspection and include IT in their investigations.
Thumper - Read correctly, I never stated I didn't alert the proper authorities... I simply said that there are far worse 'crimes' out there to be giving attention to. And what I meant by 'main focus'... tell Metro to start writing citations to EVERYONE who jaywalks valley-wide starting today... Let me know how that goes... I agree with mostly everything else you said...
Advice to all. Including Casino Management and Patrons of these casinos. INSPECT WHAT YOU EXPECT! I periodically go to the players club and ask about my account. When these poachers see that you do that, they don't rob your account. Every time your account is accessed for viewing it is recorded by the machine. When these thieves see that, they know that you are not in a coma somewhere and they leave your account alone. The old saying holds true. "If you want to rob a bank, go to work for a bank" Same is true here. Inactive accounts are stolen from with great frequency because the account holder is not aware of it.
The many thieves employed by casinos are yet another reason to refuse to allow scanning or photocopying of your personal identity documents in order to get players' cards or other 'benefits." When a casino employee tries to copy or scan your ID, JUST SAY NO. Often they have been trained to lie to patrons and say it is a "gaming regulation." This is utterly untrue. If you are confronted by an employee who insists on this falsehood, call the Gaming Control Board. A casino has no legitimate need to photocopy your personal information. They can write it down or enter appropriate data into their computer, but NOT photocopy or scan your ID into their system.
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Opinions and Commentary on the Gaming Industry: www.TheBearGrowls.com
Why not name names? The article says there have been several arrests. If that is the case, they are a matter of public record. Don't you think we ought to know what casinos were involved in this? I thought one of the responsibilities of the press was to keep the public informed. Are the casinos some kind of sacred cow?