Did you know that 1.6 billion people across the globe gamble either through online gambling or at casino locations? Online casinos have made gambling more accessible than ever for people all around the world. Online slots and online poker continue growing in popularity for people that want a trustworthy online casino.
There are many benefits that come with gambling at an online casino, but it is important to know about the different online casino scams that you could encounter. Gambling is fun but you’ll want to make sure that you’re practicing safe gambling to protect your winnings.
The good news is that you’re in the perfect place to learn about the worst online casino scams that you should keep an eye out for. Continue reading to learn more.
Theft of Your Deposit
One of the worst types of online casino scams is when the online casino steals your deposit. In order to play table games or online slots at an online casino, you’ll need to set up an account and deposit money. This will make you a victim of fraud if you experience theft of your deposit.
It is possible that if you don’t do thorough research that you’ll sign up with an online casino that doesn’t actually exist. Scammers go to great lengths to create fake online casinos that look real and legitimate. The whole game plan is to make the casino seem legit so that you’ll sign up and provide your credit card or financial information.
From there, they’ll either ban you from the website or freeze your account. You’ll lose your deposit and there is nothing you can do in order to get it back. Some fake online casinos will even let you deposit small amounts a few times before offering you a massive bonus for making a big deposit. This gets you to give them a large sum of money before they lock you out.
Identity Theft
Another horrible scam that bad online casinos will try to pull off is stealing your information as well as your identification. This is one of the biggest cyber threats that consumers face today. You need to be vigilant about what businesses and websites you give your personal information and identification information to.
Some online casinos exist for the sole purpose of getting as much information about you as they possibly can. From there, they’ll use that information to benefit themselves or even sell your data to criminals that will use it to make money through identity theft.
This is one of the most tricky online casino scams to detect because the online casinos that do this seem like they’re the real deal. Their website will allow you to play games and win money. They’ll even offer you discounts and promotions for using their online casino.
A sign that the online casino you’re using is stealing your information is if they freeze your account out of nowhere and ask for identification in order to unfreeze your accounts with them.
Rigged Casino Games
Rigged casino games are another horrible online casino scam that you could encounter when looking for the best online casinos. The average scammer is worried about making as much money as possible. When it comes to online casino scams, this means finding ways to take your money at every turn.
The best way to do this is by rigging the games that you play at their online casino. They can do this with both table games as well as slot machine games. A legitimate online casino will provide Return To Player statistics showing the percentage of money that gets returned to the player versus how much it takes in.
A rigged slot machine game is set up so that you either lose every time or that you win just enough to keep playing until you run out of money. The good news is that this scam is becoming rarer and rarer as the years pass. Be careful when considering playing casino games that seem like they might be too good to be true as they could be rigged.
Non-Payment of Your Winnings
Another common scam with online casinos is a failure to pay you the winnings that you deserve for playing the casino’s games. This type of scam is becoming rarer, but it is still a scam that you should keep a lookout for. It started with online casinos offering games where you could win a ton of money that was more than what the casino could payout.
These casinos would pay you for any small wins that you had but if you won the grand prize the casino wouldn’t payout. From there, they’ll offer lame and unrealistic excuses for why they can’t pay you the money that you’ve won. This issue isn’t a problem in countries that offer licensing for online gambling like the United Kingdom.
Just be careful that you’re signing up with a reputable online casino in order to avoid a scam like this.
Malware Scams
A more recent trend when it comes to online casino scams is malware. This is arguably the worst type of online casino scam. The best way to avoid this scam is by avoiding downloading any files from the internet that you don’t trust. Malware has a variety of different effects. Some malware is simply a nuisance while others will gather your information and ransom it.
This type of malware will lock you out of your own device and demand a large ransom in order to gain access to your device again. There is no guarantee that they’ll unlock your device after you’ve paid their ransom. Be careful about what you download when signing up with an online casino.
Start Avoiding These Online Gambling Scams Today
Online gambling is a great way to play your favorite slot games or table games from the safety and comfort of your home. It is important that you do your best to avoid sketchy online casinos and online casino scams. If a casino doesn’t pay you your winnings or wants an odd amount of information about you then it is possible that you’re a victim of a casino scam.
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