The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) has issued warnings about several nationwide scams involving imposters claiming to be vendors or state or tribal casino officials.
In a statement, the NIGC said, “Recently, there have been multiple instances of scams at commercial and tribal gaming operations with losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The NIGC has been made aware of several failed attempts as well.”
The NIGC provided an example of a recent scam, in which an individual imitating a tribal official instructed the victim working in the vault to make a payment to ensure the shipment of vital equipment. The caller told the victim to remove a specific amount of cash using their cell phone while still on the line with the scammer.
Nevada gaming regulators also recently issued a similar warning about the nationwide high-pressure cage scam following the theft of $1.17 million from Circa Las Vegas and casinos in Mesquite and Laughlin. Erik Gutierrez-Martinez was arrested on theft charges.
In addition, in March, the Monarch Casino in Black Hawk reported the theft of $500,000, the largest casino theft in Colorado history. A suspect was arrested immediately.
The NIGC urges tribes to alert and train staff to be aware of the methods used by scammers:
- Pretend to be an official using social engineering to learn about an individual’s business;
- Create urgency, pressuring people to make a quick decision;
- Use intimidation and fear, threatening something terrible happen if they do not receive payment immediately;
- Employ untraceable payment methods such as peer-to-peer payments, Bitcoin, wire transfers, gift cards or cash.
In addition, the NIGC said tribes need to:
- Train staff with access to cash and financial accounts to be aware of scams
- Ensure that approved internal controls, policies and procedures are up-to-date and protect casino assets;
- Train staff to follow the approved internal controls for cash movement, transfer of funds or payment of outstanding invoices;
- Remind staff to verify the request independently by communicating directly with a supervisor;
- Train staff to be alert and recognize suspicious activities among both guests and employees;
- Train staff to never deviate from established controls and procedures, regardless of who is allegedly on the phone;
- Direct staff who receive such calls to immediately alert co-workers, security, surveillance, the supervisor on duty, TGRA and law enforcement;
- Train staff to limit transferring external callers to sensitive areas and to transfer those calls to the security office instead.
The NIGC urges tribes, tribal gaming regulatory authorities and tribal gaming operations to report suspicious calls to tribal or local law enforcement, the local FBI office and the U.S. Secret Service. Incidents also should be reported to the NIGC regional office so the information can be shared among tribes.
