Online casinos are gaining in popularity every day. There are many reasons why people love them so much, from their wide choice of games to the ability to play from anywhere at any time, to the ease of use.
However, just like anything online nowadays, unfortunately, there are plenty of online scams that surround online casinos. People have lost lots of money with these scams in the past and/or have had their valuable personal information stolen.
This is why the best online casinos in Canada are the ones that are fully licensed and regulated by a well-respected regulatory agency. It’s very important that you always fully vet online casinos before you start playing at them.
Here are some of the most common online casino scams that you should watch out for.
Deposit Theft
This is perhaps the simplest and most common online scam that happens at online casinos. A website will market itself as a legitimate online casino. They’ll create a well-designed website that will mirror other online casinos in the look, feel and language that they use.
They’ll set up a cashier page that will allow you to create an account and deposit money into what you think is a legitimate online casino account. Once you make that deposit, though, your money will be stolen.
In many cases, once you make the deposit, the site will take your money, but then will either freeze your account or lock you out of the “casino” altogether. In just about every instance of a deposit theft, the site isn’t a legitimate casino. It’s just a scam site set up by people who are looking to steal your money.
Theft of Personal Information
Sometimes, scammers aren’t after your money directly, but your personal information so they can do so much more damage. In this way, they’re not looking to get a $200 or so score from your deposit; they’re looking to steal all the money you have by taking your personal information.
Through 2017, online scammers have stolen as much as $107 billion, according to some estimates — and a lot of that is done after the fact with your stolen personal information.
When you set up an online casino account, you’re likely to have to enter a lot of personal information. This can include your name, address, and sometimes an ID number or a driver’s license number. In addition, you’ll be forced to enter your personal banking information or other financial account information when you go to make a deposit.
This puts you in a really vulnerable position if you’re not making a deposit on a legitimate site. In addition to making sure that you’re playing at a legitimate casino that is regulated, you also want to make sure that the site uses some of the best encryption and security software to protect your information.
This is because even legitimate sites can be the subject of hacking attempts by scammers who can then steal your personal information. This particular scam also happens at more sites than just online casinos, such as eCommerce sites and credit card sites.
Unfair Games
This common scam is very specific to online casinos. Because so much of the industry is set up with online technology, there’s a large opportunity for software companies to set up games that are purposefully rigged in favor of the online casino operator. In other words, players can stand little chance of actually winning if a game and/or casino operator provides unfair games that are rigged.
Legitimate online casinos will use a real Random Number Generator to run the backbone of all their games — from online slot games to traditional casino table games. There are even independent third-party companies that will audit online casinos on a regular basis to make sure all their games are fair. One of the most popular and well-known is eCOGRA.
Legitimate online casinos will also publicize their Return to Player percentage, or RTP. This shows the likelihood that players will be able to win money based on what they risk. An RTP that is close to 100% is one that typically provides great payouts to players. Games with much lower RTPs aren’t great to play and could be rigged.
Again, make sure that you are playing at online casinos that have a legitimate Random Number Generator that fuels the site. If they are independently verified and audited by an independent third-party company, too, that’s even better. This will help you avoid playing at an online casino that has rigged games.
