At the end of March 2007 online bingo site Bingos UK and it's sister site Bingo Friends announced that they have withdrawn their free bingo bonus offer to new players. Prior to this players were able to get at least £5 of free bingo to test the sites, however due to abuse of the offer (multiple accounts, fake details, spamming problems) they have had to withdraw it. It's not known whether the offer will return with restrictions in place. The move comes at a time when other sites have increased their free bingo bonus. For example Astro Bingo now offer £10 to all new players, Foxy Bingo now offer £5, and Jackpotjoy offer £2 (although you do need to ask a nice chat manager for help as it's not automatically given).
Free bingo is sadly open to abuse, especially as there are so many bingo bonus promotions around, but bingo sites can restrict this by taking steps before a bonus is given. For example asking for credit card details as Jackpotjoy does, getting users to activate their accounts to limit email abuse and perhaps even restricting accounts to one per household (although this would be unfair to genuine players).
It should also be noted that cheating the bingo site doesn't always pay. For example if you've uploaded false details you probably won't be able to get your hands on any winnings. It's a shame that Bingos have been forced to withdraw their free bingo offer, but hopefully they can learn from other sites and put restrictions in that beat the cheats. That kind of action can only be good for everyone who enjoys playing bingo online.
