Continuous growth in the iGaming industry has spawned numerous new operators looking to enter an incredibly competitive market. As such, knowing how to correctly identify whether or not an online casino is legitimate should be something every player can do. If you’re wondering it’s a good idea to gamble online, this article will outline how to verify a casino’s legitimacy—so you don’t fall victim to a scam.
What Qualifies as Legit?
Considering the vast number of countries and cultures that form the global iGaming community, it is no surprise that there may be some disparity between what is considered legitimate. For an online casino to qualify as legitimate, it must:
• Obtain a valid gambling license issued by a recognised governing body.
• Maintain operations that follow all regulatory requirements.
• Make use of robust and extensive security measures to ensure the safety and integrity of player information and funds.
• Maintain fairness in all games by using verified mechanisms and offering games developed by reputable studios.
• Process payments to winning players correctly and without any unnecessary delay.
• Ensure a strong commitment to responsible gambling and allow at-risk players to seek aid or implement a self-exclusion policy.
Licensing
One of the easiest ways to identify a scam online casino is if it does not prominently display a gambling license. This license, issued to an operator by a governing body such as the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), verifies that the operator has gone through the correct channels to launch a website offering online gambling games legally.
This license extends beyond ensuring all the T’s are crossed and the I’s dotted. Obtaining—and maintaining—a gambling license shows that the operator is following all required laws and regulations. These generally include passing financial, operational, and fairness audits at regular intervals.
Websites with legitimate gambling licenses prominently display them on every page, often in the footer. To verify a license is legitimate, it should link directly to its license information on the governing body’s website when clicked. Alternatively, the license number can be searched on the issuer’s website to confirm validity.
Security
Despite minimum security requirements often being dictated by regulation and, therefore, agreed to be followed if a site is licensed, other security measures should also be considered. This is because any online casino that doesn’t take security seriously often won’t worry if your data or funds are breached.
When registering with a new gambling operator, ensure the security basics are in place. This includes the site being secured via SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) technology and using strong encryption, such as 256-bit SSL.
Less obvious security measures to look for during registration and use include the site’s Know Your Customer (KYC) policy and whether the site offers simple security features like Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). The lack of rigorous KYC checks or basic features like SSL or MFA shows that the site may not be secure.
Providers and Games
Before registering an account, another method to identify scam casinos is to determine what providers the website has partnered with and what games are available. Almost all development studios, such as Evolution, NetEnt, and Play’n GO, work exclusively with properly licensed, legitimate websites.
While access to games from developers like this doesn’t automatically grant a website absolute legitimacy, it is a strong indicator that the site can be trusted. However, this should be verified by playing demo versions of some games to confirm they are the same title released by the developer and not a look-alike counterfeit.
Payments and Policies
As with casino game developers, payment providers often vet who they provide their services to. Due to this, scam casinos rarely offer well-known payment methods like Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Neteller, or Skrill. It is more likely that a number of unknown providers will be listed.
Having reputable payment processors doesn’t guarantee legitimacy. However, if a website offers deposits and withdrawals through a reputable provider, there is a stronger likelihood that the site is safe to play on, particularly if it also appears licensed and has games from top providers.
Responsibility
As online gambling has grown in popularity, so has the voice of those seeking to protect the vulnerable from the effects of problem gambling. In many regions, providing access to help for problem gambling is not only the responsible thing for operators to do but also a legal requirement to remain licensed.
Because of this, a quick and straightforward way to verify if a site is legitimate is to see if it provides information on how to seek help for addictive gambling and what its policies are on self-exclusion. If these are missing or hidden on the site, it should give enough pause to consider other factors to determine if the site is secure to gamble on.
Reputation and Experience
Finally, one of the most effective ways to verify if an online casino is legitimate is to see what past and present players have to say about it online. The voices of those with experience of the platform help it gain a reputation that can either out it as an illegitimate operator or confirm it is a secure and enjoyable place to try your luck.
To gain insight from the experiences of others, it is always best to do an online search for other players’ experiences with an operator. Reading professional, unbiased reviews of operators can also give you valuable insight and ensure you don’t miss red flags and fall for a scam website.
Final Thoughts
Paying attention to the factors above will quickly help you determine if a website will give you a legitimate chance to win prizes or make you regret depositing funds. However, beyond all these methods of sniffing out a scam website, your intuition as a player is your greatest strength.
Therefore, it may be best to find an alternative if something doesn’t feel right about a website despite everything appearing legitimate. As the list of top 100 slot sites ranked by casinos.com shows, many options are available that can offer similar thrills and opportunities without leaving a nagging feeling in the pit of your stomach.
