One of the advantages of online casinos is that you can play in the comforts of your home. This is why its popularity surged back during the pandemic because no one was allowed to go out, and all of the non-essential establishments, including casinos, were closed. With the ability to play anytime and avoid the virus, online casinos are the obvious choice for gamblers.
Even when the pandemic is over, the popularity of online casinos is still high, and many gamblers are still opting for online casinos. However, with this surge of popularity come fake online casinos.
Fake online casinos are illegitimate ones that have not been reviewed by the authorities and are out to get the money out of their players. Although they are in the minority nowadays, they still exist, which means that you should still be careful about checking any online casino you fancy. But how do you know precisely if an online casino is illegitimate? Here are some signs you can look for.
Bonuses are Too Good to be True
Most online casinos attract new players by giving them perks and bonuses when they sign up. But, of course, these things come with a catch, like you can only get them after depositing a specific amount of money or if you played in the online casino for quite some time. So it probably is if you think the bonuses and perks are too good to be true.
Fake online casinos tend to exaggerate or make their bonuses and perks very enticing to get more new players to victimize. But of course, it’s not always the case. Some legit online casinos also do this, so you might want to check if other casinos are running this giveaway. If you can’t see any other casino running this bonus, you might be dealing with a counterfeit website.
No Information
When you enter a regular website, you can always see a link to a page that says “About Us,” where they talk about some information about their website, like what their website is all about, the business practices, and even some partners and clients they have at the moment.
However, for a fake online casino, there’s little to no information about them. The reason here is that these fake online casinos don’t want any information that can lead to the identification of the people running them. Of course, this is to avoid jail time.
No License
Before an online casino can operate in any given state, it should be reviewed and audited by the proper authorities. This is to check if there is nothing fishy about the business and ensure that the games are fair and square. After this, they will be permitted to operate, given a license, and listed on their website on the authorities’ list of legal online casinos.
You should check for their licenses every time you visit a new online casino. This is a vast green flag for that casino as it is a sign that they are legit. On the other hand, online casinos that don’t have a license are a red flag.
This means that the authorities did not check them, and the government did not audit their business operations. They don’t bother with that because if they do get reviewed, their scummy business operations and practices will be found, and the owners will have a massive chance of being jailed or fined.
No RTP Information
Most casinos have RTP information for players to see and understand the winning percentages of their games. So what is RTP? RTP is the percentage of bets that a specific game is expected to return to the player. That said, it’s a green flag for online casinos as they want to be transparent regarding their games. On the other hand, most fake online casinos don’t have any information when it comes to RTP simply because they don’t want the players to see that the games are rigged.
No Multiple Payment Options
Most online casinos nowadays have multiple payments and deposit options for their players. They are partnered with multiple platforms like PayPal, MasterCard, and other e-wallets. However, fake online casinos only have a few obscure ones. Remember that no companies would want to partner with an illegitimate online casino, so if the online casino you’re with now doesn’t have these popular platforms, there might be something wrong.
Even so, scams are getting sophisticated nowadays. Some illegal casinos may end up creating legit accounts where the victims they prey on deposit their money. If you sense something is off with an online casino, immediately cancel any pending transactions to avoid the hassle.
Final Words
Fortunately, most online casinos right now are legit, and the fake ones are in the minority. However, this doesn’t mean you should be complacent when checking an online casino’s legitimacy. Always check every online casino you encounter and be suspicious of any red flag. If you do find an illegitimate online casino, you should report them to the authorities.
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