It's inevitable that some people aren't particularly polite. Individuals whose only goal in life is to defraud others of their money. Another reality is that some of those dishonest people use fake casino websites to achieve their goals.
Sites like RightCasino and others that monitor online casino operations add another layer of scrutiny to the already heavy hand of licencing regulators on the online gaming business. In order to ensure that only trustworthy online casinos are included on our site, we are always adding new ones and removing those that do not meet our high standards.
Knowing how to identify a dishonest casino is an important ability for every player to have, as it could end up saving them time and money in the long run. To help you spot suspicious online casinos, we've compiled this list of warning signs.
Where do rogue casinos come from?
Rogue casinos can be defined by a number of characteristics, and the most outrageous ones can exhibit many of these traits simultaneously.
Failure to pay is highly unacceptable. In its terms and conditions, some casinos state that players may be required to wait 30 days before they can withdraw their winnings. It's great and dandy; players should always read the fine print, and they gave their permission to the terms and conditions when they signed up to play at the casino.
Problems emerge when withdrawals do not occur. Continual setbacks that annoy the gamer and deprive them of what is properly theirs. When you browse player forums, be on the lookout for this warning sign. Avoid that casino at all costs if you notice a pattern of similar complaints about non-payment.
Slot machines, blackjack, and poker are just a few examples of the casino games that we play under the assumption that they are random and fair. Trustworthy gambling establishments will have third-party auditors verify the fairness of their games. But some unscrupulous casinos use dubious methods and even dubious software to manipulate the games to their advantage, taking advantage of players who are oblivious to the fact that the odds are always against them.
It could be difficult for an individual player to notice this kind of activity. To establish a game is unfair beyond a reasonable doubt, specialist testing is required. Although it would be convenient to believe so in order to maintain our dignity, a string of consecutive losses does not indicate that the game you are playing has been tampered with.
Check the site's footer for the emblems of fairness testing groups like eCOGRA; many casinos proudly display these certifications. To find out if a casino isn't being fair, player-focused sites like RightCasino use the data given by these testing companies.
Participating in practices that try to abuse or harass players is another way casinos can get themselves blacklisted. Even though the UK Gambling Commission and other licencing bodies have stringent regulations on the treatment of players, dishonest sites will still try to get away with it.
Some of the things that can get casinos blacklisted include making misleading claims about their bonuses, bombarding players with marketing materials, and purposefully making their terms and conditions difficult, if not impossible, to uncover. When children or other vulnerable individuals are the targets of such aggressive techniques, it goes beyond being bothersome; it can even be unlawful in certain situations.
Checklist for rogue casinos
With this newfound knowledge, we have compiled a list that you can refer to in the event that you have suspicions about a casino.
Verify the certification
So, this gambling establishment claims to have a licence from the UK Gambling Commission, the Malta Gaming Authority, or some other organisation, but you still aren't sure. Visit the relevant licencing agency's website to look into it.
Finding the company name—often found in the casino site's footer—and entering it into one of their publicly available databases of licence holders is all that's required.
Get out of there if you don't see a licence from that agency.
Find out a bit more
There is no more potent instrument than the internet at your disposal than what you are utilising right now if you are playing at an online casino. In search of casino insider information? Look up the casino by name and then add "complaints" to your search query.
Check what comes up; if several people are expressing dissatisfaction with the same issue (especially a serious one like unjust account freezing or non-payment), the players in question may have a point and you could be better off spending your money elsewhere.
Pay attention to the finer points
In their desperation for easy money, some shady casino owners will resort to stealing from their more honourable competitors. You may be dealing with content theft if you come across artwork that features the name or mascot of another casino.
Sometimes, savvy players can even find casinos that have plagiarised content from other sites. This typically happens when the plagiarist was careless and left a reference to the original site someplace.
The type of operator running that casino is revealed when content theft occurs, even if it has nothing to do with the gambling experience per se. Where else can you play when the developers couldn't even be bothered to make their own rules? Not at all; we had our doubts.
Thoroughly review the agreement
Reading the casino's terms and conditions isn't exactly high on your list of things to do, but it will help you stay out of trouble when you play.
When you have doubts about a casino's kosher status, it's crucial to read the terms and conditions. You should at least question or stay away from casinos that employ nebulous language when describing their capabilities or that omit crucial details.
Put the service through its paces
Here, we're referring to the service that helps customers. Untrustworthy gambling websites typically do not care about player satisfaction and do not want to invest in a support service. They are solely focused on making money.
Ask some simple inquiries using the live chat or email help features; they should be questions that even a first-day training support representative could answer. Make sure someone is supposed to be available by doing this during the specified support hours, if they appear anywhere.
If the casino doesn't answer your basic inquiries or answers them poorly after 24 hours, it's safe to say that they don't understand customer experience very well. Proceed with care.
Just because a casino seems legitimate on the surface doesn't mean you should stick around if you have a terrible feeling about it. A great deal of great, player-focused casinos are available online. Do yourself a favour and skip the casino if you still have doubts.
