How to Avoid Scam Casinos

By MaxD

We often see people struggling to know how to choose a good casino. Due to the nature of online gambling and the Internet in general, there is a certain percentage of casinos that are disreputable and to be avoided. After almost 20 years in the trenches of helping players get their casino issues resolved we’ve seen a lot of nasty things happen. Our purpose here it to help you not be a victim of the many traps and scams out there, some guidelines to help you avoid the bad guys.

Step #1: Web Search For the Casino

The key to doing a good bit of web detective work is to layer your searches: no one search will give you the full answer. It’s a matter of doing a search, learn some things, do a different one, add that to the mix… one on top of another to help you build up a reliable picture — like 3D printing.

Your search layers should include:

• Name of the casino plus “ratings”: what you want to see is variety of ratings from multiple sites. If you see “4.8” everywhere, for example, that’s not a good sign and leads us to the next point…
• Name of the casino plus “review”: beware of plagiarism. Seeing the same review over and over with the same or suspiciously similar text is not a good thing. Also, AI slop is the new spam: generic, enthusiastic articles short of details and duplicated across many sites is a bad sign.
• Name of the casino plus “scam”: here it’s simple: if you find lots of references to problems and non-payment from a wide variety of different sources… not good.
• Name of the casino plus “complaints”: again lots of complaints from different sources is a serious red flag.

As you do all these searches and get results, ask yourself: who is complaining, do they sound legit? Are there common themes (no play, slow pay, deposit to withdraw scam…)? You need to use your judgement. Remember, a lot of the internet is made of angry people with an axe to grind or something they want to sell you.

Always ask yourself: WHO is telling you WHAT and WHY — and are they profiting from it?

Step #2: Take a Good Hard Look at the Casino’s Website

What is the name of the casino?

There are a billion names out there, because there are a billion casinos. You have to have some sympathy for the new guys trying to think of a new name.

That said, names like FatPirate, EasyMoneyNow, NothingButWins, etc are dubious from the start (they might be inadvertently telling you something about themselves).

Finally, if a casino name is Casino ABC but their website address is casino4x77.pro there’s something wrong here. In all likelihood they are running a scammy operation and are rotating through website addresses in order to stay active. Legitimate businesses do not have to do such things.

The website:

Think of the casino website as a handshake between you and the casino operator. If you have to log in to find out anything about the site (we call that a “registration wall“) — that’s a massive Stay Away red flag.

The website should make some basic information readily available and it should be obvious and easy to find (usually at the bottom of the main page):

• This is the most important one: Where are they licensed? Including a link to the jurisdiction issuing their license. (This one verification can help you eliminate 50% or more of the scammer sites.)
  These days almost all legitimate license holders are required to have a live hyperlinked logo; this would take you to the jurisdiction’s licensing page that details the company information of that license holder. This is true for the MGA, the UKGC, Alderney, Kahnawake, and most other reputable licensing agencies.
  If the casino displays a logo that has a dead link — meaning you click and it goes nowhere — it’s probably a scam and you should go elsewhere.
  If the casino is licensed in a place you’ve never heard of (“Anjouan”, anyone?) we advise you to proceed with GREAT caution! You really should research that jurisdiction: is this place is reputable? That’s the question that needs answering.
• What company is behind this operation? Again, most legitimate casinos won’t try to hide their company name and address. If they give that info freely that is a big step in the right direction.

There are a few further things to watch out for:

• Pop-ups: too many, endlessly repetitious, too pushy (“Deposit! Deposit! Deposit!”), too-good-to-be-true (“Win Big!”, “FREE money”), etc. These are all bad signs: how would they stay in business if all they did was give away money?
• Software Providers: these days, it’s generally true that the more software providers they use the better. If a casino is not divulging who their software provider(s) are then that’s another red flag: it looks suspiciously like they’re hiding something.
• Beware of an overindulgence in awards – especially awards that are not hyperlinked. They could easily be faked. Do a web search for the name of the award to be sure that there is a third party that issues these without being paid to do so.

Step #3: Read Their Terms and Conditions

The bottom line is that the Terms and Conditions are the basis of your relationship with the casino. If there is a dispute or argument, it will almost always come down to what is in the Terms. We are well aware that reading the Terms is tedious and mind-numbing, but they will shape your relationship (pay out times, documents required, rates of withdrawal, etc.) and future experience of the casino. So, we have no choice but to strongly advise that you do read the Terms.

Step #5: Customer Support

If they boast of having “live chat”, give it a whirl and ask them a few basic questions – even if you know the answers:

• Where are they licensed?
• When will the KYC be done? Can it be done in advance — before a win?

Basically what you are trying to determine here is: are there humans on the chat that understand your questions and can give you reasonable answers. If the response you get is: “Please submit your questions by email”, or “We’re not able to answer those questions”, this is a serious warning signal. If you can’t get basic answers from them now what’s going to happen when you actually need their help?

You’ll be surprised how many “live chat” people don’t have a clue what’s going on with their casino. Many of these people are just there to give you bonus offers and fleece the unwary. Side note: sometimes you can actually have a good and pleasant chat with these people, never hurts to try.

The same goes for email support. It should be quick — and coherent. If they are struggling to communicate in the language of your choice… well imagine if you needed to solve a problem. Not great.

Step #6: Scams

If you are already signed up at the casino, here are some common scams that you should watch out for:

• Pay to withdraw: just what it sounds like. You win a bunch of money (sometimes a crazy big bunch of money, like half a million) and the casino starts asking you to deposit a large amount (or more than once) so you can withdraw. Read more about it in this in-depth post on our forums about pay to withdraw scams.
• Endless KYC: if you submit endless documents and the casino says there is always something wrong with them, then there might be something wrong with the casino.
• Repeated payment failures: sometimes they blame it on the payment processor, sometimes the bank, sometimes sunspots or aliens — the bottom line is that if the casino can’t process your payments, you’re not getting paid. Not good.

Conclusion:

We hope we’ve given you some good guidance on how to choose a good casino, and how to avoid the dangerous ones.

---