Fake Casinos – How to recognize them and how to protect yourself from them

Online casinos are a first-class platform for entertainment and to review everyday life. The offer ranges from the well-known casino games with dice or cards, roulette, slot machines as well as video games from different genres such as strategy or jump and run. So there are many ways to become active in an online casino and make a little money on the side. Just like in a real casino, you can play with real money and if you have the right cards or pull the lever at the machine at the right moment, very big winnings can be made. But because large sums are not a legend in online casinos, fraud is not uncommon. There are some points to keep in mind when choosing an online casino, as well as some characteristics that point to a fake provider. These points are explained in the following article and how to protect yourself from fraud.

The business of luck

Casinos and gambling are of course not new inventions. Already in ancient Rome gambling was a normal thing. In the past, there were many highs and lows in the industry, which were marked by zinc-coated games, casinos led by organized crime and negative headlines. However, the possibility of visiting a virtual casino on the Internet is a new innovation. On the one hand, because at the time of the first casinos in Rome there was of course no Internet, and on the other hand, because online casinos were only legalized in Germany since 2012. Although virtual games of chance had already existed before, they could only be accessed via foreign servers and were not legal under German law. Fortunately, however, this has changed. The industry has been able to establish itself on the German market and has since worked hard on the range of games, security and image. The platforms of the online casinos have also been technologically developed and now use the same SSL encryption, which is used by servers of banks and government institutions.

The scam of scammers

If the websites of online casinos are so well secured, the question naturally arises how the scam works. To do this, a fundamental distinction must be made between trustworthy and fraudulent platforms. This is because online fraud does not happen like in a real casino. The virtual games of chance are rewritten at fraudulent online casinos in such a way that players cannot win as often as they try. If you have a good hand, it’s only enough for a few Euros at the most, so just so that you don’t lose the desire to play or get suspicious. The procedure is similar for the spinning machines, so that it is impossible for the player to always stop the same symbol. The problem with this type of scam is that you can’t tell beforehand. Because gambling is a risky business for a reason and it is well known that on some days you have less luck than usual. Another way how the scammers proceed is that when the big first prize is finally won and you proudly want to pay out the won money to your bank account, mistakes arise and the payout is currently not possible because of that. Another risk and form of fraud is the resale of users’ personal and account information to third parties. This creates great risks for credit cards and financial resources.

This indicates a fake online casino

The ways and means by which the fraudsters proceed are very different. But the end is usually the same, you lose the money you deposited or worse by using the credit card of third parties. One or the other might wonder why you would fall for something like this at all. In defence of this, it must be said that the websites of fraudsters usually appear very professional. Of course there are exceptions and clear fake pages where you can’t read a correctly formulated sentence. Other features of fraudulent online casinos are excessively high bonus payments of 500 euros or more. Normally, the bonus for signing up and first deposit is 100 percent on the sum deposited, up to 100 euros. Some large offerers recruit also now and then with 150 euro welcome bonus, if straight a action takes place or a certain time, for example winter beginning, Christmas or summer holidays before the door stands. Gambling is only allowed from the age of 18. If no age check is asked during registration, this is a bad sign, but does not necessarily speak for a fake, since the check can also be asked later.

The reviews of the online casinos

If you make online purchases at Amazon, for example, or would like to open an account at a bank, you can search for opinions and ratings from active and former customers. This is usually also a good first step of the research. By reading different opinions and discussions, information about the services, the range of games and security can be obtained. But online casinos need to be treated with caution. It is now normal to buy customer opinions on the Internet. Fake customer opinions that are bought from fake online casinos are published as false information. Since one should read however in any case customer opinions, one reads these up on several platforms as well as only on examined comparison sides, like betting.org is one. If you use several sources you can get a better picture of the provider.

The characteristics for a serious online casino

This section now explains the characteristics of a trustworthy online casino. Every provider of gambling needs a valid license according to the German gambling law, no matter if it is a real or virtual casino. The license comes from countries such as Curacao, Malta, England, Schleswig-Holstein and Gibraltar. As a rule, the licenses received, together with the certificates, are displayed large and quickly recognizable on the start page. If you have to search longer or even in vain for them, this is a bad sign and you should look for another online casino. The certificates come from public as well as private level. From the German side they are awarded by the TÜV and the lottery company. The certificates are published with detailed tests, which can be used as ideal and trustworthy basis with the decision. It shows exactly how secure the platform is, how qualitative the range of games is, how good the chances of winning are, how competent the customer service is and other important decision factors.