Have you ever been scammed at an online casino? Many players will run across casino scams at some point in their playing career. Sometimes the scammy websites are rooted out early and others take away millions from players before they are shut down.
Today, we will help you spot potential online casino scams but helping you recognize common characteristics of online casino scams. Scammy websites will have one or more of these characteristics.
Generic and Unbranded Casino Gaming
If you go to a website and the online casino games are very generic or are unbranded, that should be a major red flag. Legitimate online casinos will operate using software from established and licensed online casino software operators. These companies include Microgaming, Real Time Gaming, bGaming, iSoftBet, and many more.
Instead of Wolf Saga, you might find Midnight Wolf at a scammy casino.
Unbranded gaming will generally be of lower quality and may even be direct knockoffs of popular casino games. Instead of Mega Moolah, you may be Big Moolah. Instead of Wild Hog Luau, you may find Crazy Pig Luau. If games look cheap and unbranded, pick another site.
Unrealistic Casino Bonuses
Would you play at an online casino offering you a 500% bonus up to $10,000? How about 500 free spins on a deposit? Who wouldn’t want to play there? Those offers sound a bit too good to be true. That’s because they usually are.
Some scammy casinos will offer unrealistic online casino bonuses to get you to deposit with them. However, these bonuses usually have some major catch that makes it impossible to make any money. For example, that 500% bonus may have a 50x rollover for both your deposit and bonus, making it a 100% rollover. Those free spins may be on games that have a 93% or lower RTP or may have an insane playthrough as well.
If you see online casino bonuses above what you would normally see at your average casino, alarm bells should go off in your head.
Unusual Deposit Options
It’s no secret that it can be challenging to deposit at Australian online casinos. So if you go to a casino that allows you to deposit using PayPal, Skrill, all forms of bank accounts, or any other options not normally open to Aussies, red flags need to be waving.
Scammy casinos will not take banking laws into consideration and offer options you don’t normally see at online casinos. That’s because they are probably sending fake transaction codes to the companies. For example, the casino may claim that you’re purchasing golf balls instead of making a deposit. This is a form of money laundering, which is illegal.
Also, beware of casinos that only offer cryptocurrency for deposits. If their games are in USD or AUD but they only accept Bitcoin for deposits, something is fishy and it’s time to go elsewhere.
Casino is Unlicensed
Anytime you are considering a new online casino, the first thing you need to do is check to see whether it is licensed anywhere in the world. While the Australian government will not license online casinos, there are several major online regulators that will. They include Curacao, Isle of Man, the UK Gambling Commission, and more.
Check to see if your casino has licensing information. If it does, you should be able to go to the licensing body’s website to verify the license. Casinos that are licensed are held to higher standards and are regularly audited to ensure they adhere to industry standards. You can generally find licensing information at the bottom of any page of a website.
If you are unable to locate licensing information on the website, the site is not licensed. Legitimate online casinos proudly display their licensing status. Unlicensed casinos should automatically be considered scams and avoided.