Defective shredder machine causes excitement in a Canadian casino

An allegedly defective shredder machine led to a scandal in Canada. A company responsible for the annihilation and disposal of playing cards and commissioned by the Grand Villa Casino in Burnaby did not shred playing cards from the casino, but rather shipped to freely accessible dumpstiners – a perfect opportunity for fraudsters. After the scandal became known, the Canadian regulatory authority of the province of British Columbia, the British Colombia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), even changed the official legislation for the disposal of playing cards from casinos.

Security risk for casinos not to be underestimated

Casinos all over the world lure with games, fun and entertainment and above all with the quick money. The household budget can improve a personal lucky streak. However, it has Gambling always an attraction for fraudsters. for this reason, casinos are always faced with new challenges and the safety regulations are correspondingly high. this does not only affect slot machines, but above all also playing cards. these are particularly easy to tore. to prevent the card fraud, casinos are among other things proper destruction and disposal of used playing cards obligated. This can be done, for example, by removing a card corner. However, many casinos often hire external service providers who take over the destruction and disposal of the cards. The Grand Villa Casino, based in Burnaby, Canada, also commissioned a company for shredding used playing cards. But this order went crooked and ensured a real scandal.

That had happened:At the beginning of March, an anonymous note was received by the Canadian radio station News1130 that the company Shredweise had parked a total of 44 garbage containers in a parking space for everyone. If documents are to be shredded, this is usually a sign that it is confidential information. Therefore, it was not surprising that in 17 of the 44 garbage containers, various documents with confidential content, ID copies and credit card information were found, all of them completely intact and not mixed. Among them were also intimate documents such as medical findings on cancer diagnoses and positive HIV tests. Complete, used playing card sets from the Grand Villa Casino were also found in the dummy containers. They had not been made unusable in any way.

Defective Schredder machine supposedly the cause

As a result of the scandal, the National Association for Information Destruction (Naid) started a association that secure information and file destruction checked, one Investigation against the company Shredweise. The British Colombia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) also started an investigation immediately. A spokesman for Gateway Casinos and Entertainment Ltd., which also includes the Grand Villa Casino, also expressed the company’s concern:

“We examined the incident that you have reported in more detail and confirm that it is the mistake of a third -party provider who did not comply with the conditions of his agreement with us. This worries us and we have taken quick and appropriate measures so that this does not happen again. ”

However, the casino could not explain the incident, since the security personnel are always there when the used playing cards are shredded. With their own eyes, they would have seen the cards filled into a shredder from the Shredweise company. A spokesman for the company now announced that The Schredder machine was defective and the playing cards have therefore ended up in the dumpcontainers. a weak consolation for this blatant vulnerability. as a result of the scandal, the grand villa casino Cooperation with Shredwise immediately terminated. In addition, all the playing cards that are currently used were exchanged by a completely new card series in order not to give fraudsters the opportunity to get back to the gaming tables with a blown cards. The BCLC has also given the recommendation to dissolve the cooperation with external service providers for disposal of used playing cards and to take the destruction of the cards into their own hands.

Lought cards popular with fraudsters

Everyone knows the proverb: “You play with laxed cards”. The origin of the proverb is far in the past. Playing cards were only loved in the past, for example by placing a tiny pencil marker on the back of the card. Playing cards were also replaced by a prepared card during play. There were special brackets for this, which were attached to the forearm under the sleeve. In order to avoid this process and ensure the safety of the card deck, used playing cards from casinos are specifically disposed of. But the fraudsters are also becoming more and more tricky, which is why they Security measures of the casinos constantly improved need to become. in 2017, for example, a fraudster gang flew in berlin. this had mixed selected cards with a chemical, invisible, radioactive substance. with a small, inconspicuous detector, they were now able to identify the marked cards. although the fraudsters could be transferred, it shows the apparently unstoppable ingenuity of the fraudsters. however, these are also faced with increasingly advanced safety precautions in arcades and casinos. technical monitoring and control systems are supplemented by specially trained staff. the case in canada has shown that back security gaps can arise again and againthat are recognized and used by fraudsters – especially in the area of playing cards.