When it comes to most forms of entertainment or services, the process for choosing them can be quite simple and risk-free. Unfortunately, this is not the case for online casinos. Due to unimaginable demand and popularity, there are thousands of online casinos to choose from. Each of one these caters to the needs of millions of gamblers each year, with the estimated total number of online gamblers currently at 1.6 billion.
With so much choice available, it can difficult to know which site is real and which is fake. Some online casinos are specifically designed to take money from players and offer absolutely no chance of winning it back.
With the help of technology, these sites are able to get away with effectively stealing money from players, and unfortunately, there’s very little recourse available when faced with these situations. That is why it is important to know how to choose safe and reputable online casinos.
Check payment methods
One thing that most legitimate online casinos offer is a variety of payment methods. These usually include Neteller, VISA, EcoPayz, Skrill, Entropay and more. All of these payment methods are very popular amongst certified online casinos since they offer security to the players.
It’s always a great sign when a casino is approved by more than one of these high-quality payment providers because it means they had to pass each companies vetting procedures.
Take for example Casino X, they are approved by Japan Credit Bureau, MasterCard, Visa, Ecopayz, iWallet according to manekinekocasino.com it is unlikely they would be able to get approval from all of these payment providers if they weren’t a legitimate casino.
These payment methods are encrypted, meaning that the information about the player, the bank, the passwords and more are protected; they are not visible to anyone, and the information cannot be intercepted.
Another reason online casinos offer a variety of payment methods is that they want to accommodate the players as much as they can, as convenience is another service legitimate sites offer. If the site in question offers limited and obscure payment methods, it could be a sign that the casino is not legitimate, and the payment methods are not safe to use.
Read reviews
Another simple method to identify which online casinos to be wary of is to read reviews. These reviews can either be found on forums written by players, or by websites where professionals will use an online casino for the sole purpose of reviewing it. Not only are the reviews an indication of the legitimacy of an online casino, but can also be a goldmine of information.
Many reviews mention how many games a site has, as well as how often the games payout and how much on average. This kind of information is very helpful when choosing a casino. Reviews written by websites will usually also indicate whether a site is suspicious or will simply blacklist the casino in question and advise players not to visit it.
Check licenses
The biggest telltale sign of a fraudulent online casino is the fact that they don’t display a license anywhere. Every legitimate online casino has to obtain a license to operate, usually from Malta.
Having a license means that the site has been tested and investigated to make sure that it is legal and allows players a fair opportunity to win. Fake sites will not have a license as the games are designed to never allow the players to win, thereby just taking money from all who register.
A license can usually be found on the homepage of an online casino or is given when requested. Never use a site that doesn’t have or supply a license, as the risk is not worth the reward.
Test customer service
The quickest and easiest thing to do in order to see if an online casino is legitimate is to test the customer service provided. This can be done by simply using any method available, such as sending an email and waiting to see if or how long it takes to be responded to.
Fraudulent casinos will not have customer service, so if no reply is given, then that is why. If a reply is given, scrutinize the response in terms of professionalism, grammar and the general use of the selected language.
Not only is this a good way to check the legitimacy of a site, but it is also helpful to know how helpful or responsive the customer service is, in the event that something bad does actually happen at some point. This is because if there is a problem, it should be resolved as quickly as possible.
