If you have recently discovered the world of online casinos but are wondering how to keep your cash safe – then you’re in the right place.
While playing games online from time to time, almost everyone might wonder if they are the victim of a phishing scam, a fake website, or if they add cash to their account, are they going to lose everything in their bank?
There are some straightforward checks that you can do to make sure that you are keeping your money safe while you play online slots, poker, blackjack, or any other kind of casino game.
Read online reviews
The first place you can go to find more about the casino site is to read online reviews. Thankfully, people who have already had issues with the casino will have had the chance to add their opinion to various review sites.
There are review sites dedicated to casinos, and there are review sites that are open to all types of service providers on the internet.
To read some reviews about the casino, simply go to your favorite search engine, something like Google, for example. Type in the name of the casino you are thinking about playing on and follow the word review.
Valid licenses
No matter where they are based, every online casino will have a valid license to provide their games.
You should be able to check the casino website’s footer section for licensing information. If you notice that the casino that says it has a license, it should have a license number too, and you should be able to find the country in which it is licensed.
You can take the license number and check it against official licensing websites like the Gambling Commission in the UK. It should also typically link to the official websites that coincide with the licensing authorities for that country.
Games from recognized providers
It might be that you are really into roulette, love a game of poker, can’t get enough of playing online slots, or are all about the progressive jackpot.
No matter how you like to play, and the game you want to play, they need to all come from reliable software providers. When it comes to casino games, a few providers stand out in terms of quality and safety.
Here are a couple of the game providers that you can ensure are safe:
- Play Tech
- Evolution Gaming
- Big Time Gaming
- NetEnt
- Microgaming
- Play ‘N Go
You will often find these game providers at some of the best casinos in the world. These games are all licensed, and they will only sell their product to safe websites.
There are, of course, thousands of other game developer companies, so it’s up to you to check that the one provided on the casino website you are using is safe.
Security measures
The moment you head to a website, there will typically be a padlock beside the URL if the website is safe. A padlock in the URL bar means it has SSL encryption to help protect your data while using that website.
This is particularly important when you are playing at an online casino, as you input your data like name, date of birth, address, and of course, your confidential payment information.
It’s not just SSL encryption, though; you ideally want to make sure the website has extra layers to confirm they are protecting your financial data. This could be that they are working with banks or different payment portals to ensure that they have the highest level of data protection.
Several well-known online payment portals could be an option, including PayPal, Stripe, Payoneer, and Skrill. As well as being able to add money directly from your bank account or credit card.
When it comes to payment options, if you see big brands next to PayPal, like Mastercard, Neteller, and Visa, your money will usually have protection from the financial companies too.
Further to looking at all of these, you should see if you can create a unique login for your account or are given no option to log in. An email address and password should be the standard login requirements. Some of the best casinos also offer an extra layer of protection in the form of two-factor authentication.
Identification
It is not uncommon for casinos to ask you to provide your identity when carrying out any financial transactions on the website. To protect itself, the casino will need to verify your details are correct.
Some online casinos will ask you to head down to your local branch with your ID so that they can verify you. This is to protect the casino itself from fraudsters. And most often, if you have to provide an ID, that will deter those players whose motives aren’t genuine.
Anti-fraud team
When you are making your way around the casino website, an anti-fraud team is one of the most important things you can find.
When there is money involved, you want to see an anti-fraud team, as you will know for sure that there is somebody out there who is willing to protect your cash and your identity at all costs.
A team of expert fraud prevention specialists is usually on hand 24/7. If they notice any names that shouldn’t have joined the casino or that somebody is playing a bit strange, they will usually crackdown on that quickly.
As a final word, you must make sure that you have things like antivirus software installed. You don’t click links within your emails unless you are sure they are from a safe source. And that you do not share your login information or payment information with anybody you come across while playing online.
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