Starting an online casino is one of the easiest businesses to start now in many parts of the world as anyone can set up and have people losing their money without worrying about consequences. You have to be careful whenever you register on a new online casino and before you invest any of your money because you never know when someone has set up a clone casino, fake casino or just a malicious casino seeking to siphon your money. Unless it is a well known and trusted brand, you should use these 10 tips to keep yourself and your money safe when gambling online.
Don’t Use The Same Password As Other Online Accounts
Forgetting passwords and having to reset them is a difficult task which is why you may think it is easier to just reuse the same password on multiple accounts. It is never safe when money and your financial and personal information is involved though. It is good to come up with a new strong password. You can always get a safe way to save your password rather than reusing it because online casinos fall victims to data breaches too and it can be devastating.
Use A VPN
You may want to assume that playing and betting online is safe but it is not. Online casinos are a big catch for hackers who install malicious software seeking to get your personal information or steal your money. When you use a VPN, it offers you an extra layer of protection in case the bad guys are after you.
Check Reviews Before Creating An Account
The good thing about online casinos is that there is no good one that people don’t know about. If you are setting up your account for the first time, chances are that someone has already used it before and given it a review somewhere on the internet. You have to search for these reviews and read through them thoroughly before opening an account with a casino. Some casinos employ fake paid reviewers too so you should ensure that the reviews are from a reliable website and look credible.
Check For Licensing Details
Online casinos also have to fall under some form of government regulation to ensure that they don’t flee with people’s money or engage in malicious business practices. Online casinos don’t exactly display their license details when you log in but a little search around the website should give you a good idea. You can scroll to the bottom of the website or check the about us page before placing any money in the casino. You should also check to see whether the legal jurisdiction in your country can help you in case anything goes wrong on that particular casino.
Test The Customer Service
Most online casinos have bots that will “be ready to help you,” once you create an account and start gambling. To be sure that you are on a reliable platform, you should try engaging the customer service though. Just text them asking bout details of services and requesting help even if you don’t need it. Sometimes, you will realize that it is all fake and customer service doesn’t even exist. Poor customer service is the biggest indicator of a bad online casino.
Evaluate The Payment Options Available
The less information you have to give away on an online casino, the better for you. Most casinos will allow you to deposit money directly from your bank account or credit card which is good because both will warn you if the transaction is deemed suspicious. You should also accept e-wallet services because they keep your information safe and leave you with less money on hand reducing your losses if any happen. You should keep off from casinos that only accept bitcoin. Cashout options on the casino should also be as reliable and readily available as the option for depositing money.
Start with a Small Amount
The promise of bigger welcome bonuses and other incentives may tempt you to want to make a big initial deposit but it is never a good idea. Most of those big bonuses never materialize into money and you may have to gamble and lose all your money before you get to touch any of them. If the casino is fake or malicious, you may end up losing a lot of money. It is, therefore, safe to start with a small amount of money and try out different markets before going all in.
Read The Payment and Withdrawal Terms and Conditions
Most online casinos flood customers with long lists of terms and conditions that you would rather just accept and move on. You have to remember that the devil is always in the details and somewhere in that long list, there are terms and conditions for making payments and withdrawals. Tiresome as it may seem, it is still wise to take your time to read and understand them because it is your money on the line at the end of the day.
Look For The Lock Sign
The only thing worse than losing a bet on an online casino is losing your money and personal information on an insecure website. Before doing any transaction in an online casino, you should ensure that the website looks legit and has a lock sign behind the HTTPS in the URL. If anything looks fishy about the URL, just get off the casino.
Try To Cash Out After Your First Win
The rules for cashing out your money from online casinos change from one platform to another. Some malicious sites will do anything to withhold your money even after you win despite making it very easy for you to load money onto your account and start gambling. After your first win, you should try cashing out as soon as possible and see if there are any limitations to how soon and how much money you can withdraw. A scam casino will also deny you your winnings or block access to your money when you try to withdraw. Doing it early will reduce your losses before they get out of hand.