Exposing the Most Common Online Casino Scams

According to the latest industry estimates, the global online gambling market is expected to have two hundred and eight one million participants by 2029, bringing in a per-user average revenue of $0.45K. Hence, it is reasonable to assume that nefarious parties are exploring this landscape, trying to trap people with various scams that will leave them financially worse off. Naturally, that is what is happening in this sphere, and it is something that is going on with most Internet businesses that involve monetary transactions.

The online casino realm is no stranger to scams, as cons have occurred here since this sector was established in the mid-1990s. At that time, this domain needed to be more regulated, with most platforms operating without licenses and most online gamblers uneducated regarding how regulation safeguarded their interests. Thus, in this period, playing at fraudulent casinos with rigged software and at ones listing bogus bonuses and refusing to payout winnings was common.

Nowadays, things stand much differently in this arena, as many developed countries have government-sanctioned licensors/overseers, and international ones follow similar stringent measures. On top of this, gamblers have become wiser the world over, and security has gotten tighter. Because of this, the number of fraudulent activities operators and cybercriminals can engage in has dwindled significantly. Still, traps exist online, the main ones you should look for when testing your luck on gaming products remotely.

Site Cloning

This tactic preys upon total novices who have heard of a quality casino and are looking for it using Google. Insidious/villainous individuals take advantage of these people by creating websites identical to reputable brands with slightly different domains. Then, they use these cloned hubs to steal users’ personal information and deposits. Wannabe online gamblers register with these platforms and believe they are doing so with a trustworthy one, but they get their deposited funds taken or worse. That is why it is crucial that everyone double-checks the URL of their chosen website and examines its security certificate to ensure that the casino they wish to use is the right one.

Casinos Deliberately Featuring Low RTP Games

Many newbies to Internet gaming need to be made aware of this. Game providers and review sites usually list the default RTP of highlighted online slots, often not mentioning that the promoted titles come in multiple RTP iterations. For those unfamiliar with digital reel spinners, these games have a spec called return-to-player, or RTP for short, which determines how much of the money wagered in its gaming rounds a title will pay back to its gamblers over time.

Most regulators allow this setting to go down as low as 88%, which is lower than what this industry generally previously allowed (92%) but is still significantly higher than gamblers can find in the land-based sphere. So, if a game has an RTP of 93%, it will return every $93 of $100 bet over time.

Providers offer operators many of their slot creations in multiple RTP versions. That means they give them a 96% variant, a 92%, a 90%, and a 88%. The first one listed will be the one the company making the game will publicize, but a casino may opt to add the 88% one in their lobby, as it has the worst winning odds. Accordingly, it is in gamblers’ best interest to learn what iteration they are playing, as it lets them gauge prize-accumulating chances. Note that this is a legit operator practice and not something akin to the recent BetMGM blackjack rigged scandal, one involving an NJ gambler who claims that sites intentionally disconnected him when he was on win streaks.

Unattainable Promo Terms

Once in a while, gamblers will come across a promotion that sounds too good to be true. For example, one featuring a 300% match up to $1,000 or more. That looks super appealing on the surface. Yet, as soon as someone dives deep into its terms, it may quickly be clear that it is anything but that, as its conditions are nearly impossible to meet. These may include a wagering requirement above x40 or deadlines to complete such stipulations that are extremely short, making it improbable that average gaming enthusiasts can complete it.
That is why it is pivotal that online casino fans closely examine the terms of every promo they are considering and run these through an expected value calculator to figure out the profitability odds they boast.

Brands Partaking in Shady Practices

What are these? Some of the more famous ones are platforms listing in their general terms pages that they can handle disputes at their discretion. So, when someone wins big, they accuse that person of engaging in fraudulent behavior, using software in their sessions, abusing bonuses, or violating their rules in some other way. Then, they select not to pay out on this basis and may even go so far as to close that user’s account.

The only way to avoid this is to choose reviewed Bitcoin and fiat hubs with terrific reputations, licensed by established bodies, listing unambiguous conditions that handle disputes via third-party arbitration.