The rapid rate at which the global online casino industry has grown is staggering. While competitiveness and growth are great, there are always a few bad seeds that intentionally want to harm players. There are thousands of online casinos out there in a 30-billion-dollar industry.
So how do UK and US players ensure they stay safe when registering and playing at online casinos? Registration and licensing are a must-check. All online casinos should show their licencing and registration, which can be verified.
Research online casinos
Black-market casino growth has more than doubled in growth in the last two years in the UK alone. This unregulated and ruthless market not only steals your personal information, which could have devastating consequences but also your hard-earned money. There are basic things you should do to protect your own cyber security, such as not entering your email address everywhere, don’t use the same password for every site, and don’t leave your mobile devices unlocked.
Research is vital when looking to join an online casino. While dodgy casinos are everywhere, there are a few ways to check the legality of a casino site. In the UK, check that the online casinos are registered with the Gambling Commission and that their registration number is legit. If you have any doubts that the numbers are fake, you can contact the Gambling Commission for verification. You can also click on the Gambling Commission logo on the casino website. This should take you through to the Commission’s public registrar showing the business registration documents.
In the US, online gambling is regulated by each state individually, and many of these authorities audit the casinos themselves. Each state will also have a list of registered and licensed online casinos for players to check before registering with a site. States also advise players to not gamble at offshore casinos.
Check for casino reviews from players, not just the casino ratings but research common complaints and how they are handled. Check for reviews on withdrawal disputes and how this was resolved. Casinos, where there have been many complaints about money disappearing from their accounts, are a huge red flag. We know technical glitches happen, but casinos usually rectify and compensate for these. Talk to customer service via live chat for any of your concerns.
What do casinos do to protect players?
Online casinos, both in the US and the UK, need your business and should protect you from others doing you harm by ensuring that your information is kept safe and not leaked and in their chatrooms from any hate speech or cyberbullying. They should protect you from yourself by making sure that when they notice you are gambling more often, with larger amounts than usual or more frantically than you usually would, they limit your account or offer a self-exclusion.
Photo credit: The feature image has been done by Natee Meepian.
This guest article has been submitted by Tahir Adams. We appreciate all guest contributions but the opinions expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the views of TechAcute.