Online Casino Fraud

There are a lot of scam casinos out there, ones that have rigged software, poor or non-existent customer service, and even ones that seem to get everything else right, but refuse to honour withdrawals.

An example of a casino that gets it right, one that ticks all of the boxes and one that never fails its customers, is Spin Palace. After all, you don’t stay in business for close to 15 years without doing something right. We have been members of this casino since the beginning and have seen many others come and go in that time. Other online casinos could learn a lot from this casino, because in the time that Spin Palace has been around we have seen many other casinos come and go, some of which have been very respectable and have just lost their way.

So what is it that Spin Palace gets right and how can you find legitimate casinos when there are so many scam ones out there?

Google

When it comes to casinos that do not honour withdrawals, Google is your best friend. We mentioned Spin Palace above. They have been in business since 2001 and if you Google their name you will find no mention of withheld fund or anything of the sort. Google can also help you out in other instances when it comes to sorting fake casinos from genuine ones, but make sure that you go a couple of pages in so that you can avoid the affiliate pages and the pages put there by the casino themselves.

Here we can use Lock Poker as an example. They were a respected site and many US poker players went there after Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker stopped allowing them to play on their servers. Everything went well for a time, but then things turned ugly and they stopped paying withdrawals. However, you only needed to do a simple Google search to discover this, because whilst Lock Poker were still running promotions and still trying to get more members by proclaiming to be the best US poker site, Google told a different and more honest story.

Certificates

All legitimate online poker sites will have the correct licenses and certifications. We often say that you should always go for sites that use Microgaming, Playtech or one of the other big named casino software programs, as these are legitimate and regularly audited, but that’s doing a disservice to the smaller software developers, many of which are also genuine. What you definitely should do though is ensure that there are official badges and logos at the footer of the casino. These will link to gaming authorities, auditors and regulators. Don’t just take their word for it though, follow through, do some research and make sure that the online casino is actually registered with those authorizers and that it actually has those licenses.

Don’t worry when you see that your online casino is regulated by an overseas agency, this is common. In fact, many gamblers are put off by this as they see a relatively obscure country and they think it is a sign that the online casino is not legit, but that’s far from the case. The biggest gaming authorities in the world are located in Malta, Alderney and Curacao, along with other small islands.

Customer Service

There are some sites that simply don’t respond to emails and don’t have phone numbers and live chat, and there are some that claim to have them but don’t follow through with that claim. If you are wondering whether an online casino is legit or not, then search for their contact details. If they only have an email address then it’s not worth taking a chance with them. No self-respecting online casino will omit a phone number or a physical address, and the best ones will have a live chat facility as well.

If they have all of this but you’re still not sure, then give them a ring or drop them an email. This is actually recommended across the board because not only will it give you an idea of their response time, but in the event that everything was just a front and that no such contact details exist, you will uncover the truth and you can avoid that particular casino.

Secure Banking

Finally, you should make sure that the online casino has secure banking options, otherwise your money might not be safe and they might not even have any intention of paying you. You should look out for secure SSL certificates, which digitally encrypt your data on a secure line. You should also make sure that on the login page, on the signup page and on the deposit and withdrawal page, the web address says “https” as opposed to just “http”. This means that you are on a secure connection, which will be standard with all legitimate casinos who make customer security and privacy one of their main priorities.