Online casinos have quickly emerged as the following best alternatives to brick-and-mortar casinos.
It’s with a good reason, though, since the games are mostly the same and have different variations, just like you would see in a regular casino. However, since we’re talking about playing casino games on the internet here, it’s not without any risks.
Because of the sudden rise of its popularity, especially during the pandemic, many scammers also popped up left and right, taking advantage of its increase in demand. Since then, many old online casino scams have popped up, and some new ones have also.
If you don’t want to fall victim to these evil schemes, then it pays to know the different types of online casino scams that are very common nowadays. Here are some of them.
Phishing Scams
Of course, since it’s the internet, there will always be phishing scams nearby, and unfortunately, there are phishing scams out there disguised as online casinos. If you don’t know what a phishing scam is, the general gist is that it will trick you into putting in your personal information to steal it.
Typical targets include your IDs, emails, and bank accounts. To ensure that the online casino you plan to play in isn’t a phishing scam, you can check its authenticity by checking if the website has a valid SSL certificate. You should also check if the site’s URL starts with “HTTPS.” Additionally, refrain from clicking links from suspicious places.
Rigged Games Scam
Sometimes, you’ll think you’re on a losing streak in the casino because the games are rigged, and you won’t be far from the truth. There are online casinos on the internet that are running rigged games to steal money from people. Do you think that only regular casinos run these games?
If you don’t know what a rigged game is in the first place, it’s a game that was manipulated to make the player lose his bets a lot. The most common way to do this is to manipulate a game’s RNG or random number generator. Scammers can tamper with this aspect to give the player an unfair disadvantage, so he will lose a lot of money in the process.
Luckily, online games like FanDuel Casino Games are fair and have been checked thoroughly by the appropriate authorities. This way, you don’t have to worry about getting scammed in an online casino as you play to your heart’s content.
Payment Processing Scam
Payment processing scams are commonplace nowadays, and many people have fallen victim to them. It’s an online casino scam where scammers attempt to steal your information, especially your credit card information, by creating a fake payment processor. They will prompt you to enter your credit card details on the site or send you an email that will direct you to a bogus site, which will require you to enter your card details.
It’s a very common scheme, so before you put your credit card details on any site, make sure that you only use reputable payment processing companies like PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, Amazon Pay, etc. If you don’t see any of these companies in the online casino, that should raise some red flags.
Deposit Theft
The previous examples are quite complicated, but this one is just very simple but still very effective. The deposit theft scam is self-explanatory: once you deposit your money in the online casino for your capital, you’ll never get it back again. Usually, people will try to contact the emergency hotline of the online casino only to be directed to an answering machine. Sometimes, the online casino would even vanish from the internet with your money completely.
The more malicious ones would play the long con. They will let you play and play until your initial deposit will blow up. Once you get comfortable making several deposits and withdrawals, they will strike, and suddenly, you can’t withdraw your money anymore. They will then blame this on some error, but nothing happened, and you can’t get your money back anymore.
Malware Scams
This is perhaps the scariest scam in this list. In this type of scam, the online casino will require you to click a link within their page, and then, without knowing it, you have already downloaded a malware program. A malware program is software that will harvest your computer’s data and hold it hostage.
They will threaten you by saying that they will sell your personal information on the dark web if you don’t give them the money. You might think it’s just an urban legend created, but it’s very true, and many people fall victim to it every year.
Final Words
The internet is a scary place. Even in the online casino industry, scammers lurk about, looking for a person to victimize. You should always be careful about clicking suspicious links and invest in a good VPN and antivirus program. It always pays to be careful, especially on the internet.
