How To Spot a Fake Casino Online

There are plenty of legitimate, trustworthy casinos online, but unfortunately, you will also come across the occasional fake. Fake online casinos are able to steal from users by making themselves look legitimate. They will design impressive looking websites, and hire customer service teams. Their URL domain names will be SSL secured, and they may even acquire licensing from off-shore countries. So how do you spot a fake online casino? Read how to spot a fake casino online for some easy ways to check a site's authenticity. To be able to tell a safe casino from a rogue site, always do some checking before making a deposit. Start by looking at the website’s company information. Read trusted reviews and experiment with small deposits before you become a high-stakes gambler. And check as many indicators as possible, don't rely solely on one or two. A genuine casino may have poor reviews online, while a scam outfit may have dozens of positive reviews, which have been bought, or are themselves faked. With this in mind, here are five ways to help you decide if a casino is worth a wager.

1. How to spot a fake casino online, rule number one - check for a license

Quick and easy rule. A casino’s license should be the first thing you check. If the online casino doesn’t have a license to operate from a reputable gambling commission, don't gamble on their website. Finding out if an online casino or sportsbook has a license is not difficult at all. You just need to go to the bottom of the webpage and check. Legitimate casino websites display their license numbers and regulators openly, and you will see which licenses a casino has. Licenses are awarded by jurisdictions dotted around the world, and allow you to be certain the company was properly vetted. US casinos are licensed by the Kahnawake tribe in Canada, Caribbean island nations including Antigua and Curacao, or Central American countries such as Costa Rica. European jurisdictions such as The UK, Alderney, Gibraltar, Malta and Curacao are considered some of the most reputable casino regulators in the world. Though not always, fake casinos are mostly unlicensed, and therefore unregulated. They are often intended to last only a few months, so why would they got to the trouble of getting licensed and risking lawsuits. If the footer of the website is empty, and the casino appears to have no license, stay away. Having a license is still not enough on its own, however, to guarantee that a casino is not fake.

2. Payment times and methods

If you are unsure about a platform, make a small deposit, and test the withdrawal speed. Certified third parties make the servers and banking processors for legitimate gambling sites, and money should be in your account very quickly. If you don't have the option to pay in only a small amount, or don’t get your money in more than a day, it is probably a scam. Always make sure the casino is on time regarding payments. Also make sure that the casino accepts your preferred method of payment. A lack of deposit options can be a warning sign. They should offer at least one credit or debit card, and a range of money transfer options. Crypto currencies such as bitcoin are usually a good sign. Crypto wallets connected with bad activity are quickly flagged and expelled from the currency exchanges, making it impossible to scam a lot of people with them. So, even if you don’t plan to bet or gamble with crypto, you should check if the platform allows it.

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And for casinos outside of the US / Canada, if you see they accept PayPal deposit, this is an excellent sign. PayPal are very selective about who they do business with, and allow only the biggest and best brands to use it.

3. Game selection

Sports betting providers are big business, especially when it comes to sports like football, basketball, or baseball. Licensers are both strict and quick to react if someone is making unlicensed bets, and will take down that website very quickly. So even if you are only interested in spinners and card games, check out if the website offers some sort of sports betting. Not all genuine sites will offer sports betting as they don’t have an adequate license for it. But, if they do, it is a good sign they are a legitimate platform. And if you are looking for sports betting, check out online sportsbooks in the USA to see what you can find. Slot games should also be plentiful, but the game providers should be trustworthy. If a casino features games from software developers that you cannot find anywhere else, it might be scam software. Always look for the payout percentages of games too. As a general rule, you shouldn’t bother playing slots that have a payout percentage of less than 94%. Online gambling sites in the USA will take you to trusted sites where you can see for yourself what games are available.

And try demo games. Real online gambling websites may offer a demo account, or will offer something called a ‘no deposit bonus’. They will allow you to test games and find ones you like, in the hopes you will become a regular customer. You will also give you some virtual money to spend before you have to stump up any of your own cash. If there is no such option, the platform is probably predatory, and want’s to take your money before you realize you have been scammed.

4. How to spot a fake online casino - always check online reviews

Bad casinos are flagged very fast online, and people rarely lie about their experiences using online casinos. A casino with overwhelmingly negative reviews is probably not safe, so if 80 percent of reviews say the casino does not process withdrawals, avoid them. If a casino does not pay winnings, changes the terms of its bonus at short notice or finds unusual reasons to close a player's profitable account, this information will also find it’s way online very quickly. There are several websites you can trust to read honest reviews about safe online casinos. A quick google search will reveal the most popular review websites, and be sure to check out more than one. Some websites even allow users to share feedback on their website - if they are genuine, they will have nothing to hide. If you find a casino which has been running for more than 3 (ideally 5) years, and does not have any complaints or payment issues, you can be pretty sure that you have found a legitimate outfit.

5. Lack of Testing Certification

Most legitimate casinos want to demonstrate the fairness of their games. After all, this is only going to attract new punters. To do this, specialist auditing companies such as eCogra, Technical Systems Testing and iGaming Labs run the games millions of times. The data is then used to demonstrate that the deal is random, and that the published returns (RTP %) are accurate. Legitimate operations will include badges with checkable links to their certificates on their homepage. You can also double check with the testing company listed that the audit is up to date. With fraudulent companies, there is no such thing as a fair game. If you find yourself in a casino whose games are not provably fair, don’t waste your money. Instead, choose legitimate websites where every game is fair, such as Bet365 Casino. You also can read more here Picking a Trusted Online Casino: Best Tips For Gamblers. And once you have found a good platform, make sure you still play smart. Set your bankroll to a realistic amount and don’t overextend. Stay cool, calm and collected and you can you take in all of the bonuses, and even score some nice winnings.

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