The
virtual casino industry has grown in leaps and bounds over the last 10 years.
Today millions of people tune in to play their favorite card game on various
web platforms from around the world. The growth of the online gambling industry
has ensured people now have the opportunity to win tons of money in the form of
reward money. However there are some major concerns as well and chief among
them is the possibility of online fraud.
With
the proliferation of virtual casinos, the number of online fraud cases has also increased significantly. The problem is further exasperated when you
consider that there are no uniform international gaming laws in places to
address the issue of online fraud. This means, virtual casinos can freely set
up offices in remote countries like Costa Rica or Malta and then woo thousands
of customers by promoting a series of bogus casino sites. These sites offer all
kinds of discounts and cash money awards to the public. People who fail to
conduct a basic background check on the site, end up spending a lot of money
during registration. And things only get worse from there. The site will make
the player feel like he is winning a lot of money while playing the games. When
it is time to pay up, the company will come up with all kinds of excuses
to delay payment. They will instead convince the player to wager his
earnings into playing more. In the process, the player would make repeated
deposits down the line once he runs through the winnings. Hundreds of thousands
of unsuspecting players have been swindled by various casino companies and as a
consequence online fraud continues to persist to this day. Here are some simple
tips to ensure that you never fall victim to any of these scams.
Check the Website
For starters, if you receive a call or a mail from the
representatives of a virtual casino, the onus is on you to ensure that you
don’t become a victim of online fraud. Check the casino website to see where
the company is based. Legitimate casino companies provide accurate contact
information to players. If the company is based in some remote country like
Gibraltar or the Isle of Mann, you should know that these places have very weak
gaming laws and you cannot even hope to file an appeal against the company and
win if you feel you have been cheated. On the other hand, the UK has very
strict gaming laws and companies that are based there have to follow a strict
set of guidelines to ensure that the players are not scammed.
Things to Expect
It would also be immensely helpful to do a general background
check on the site as well. Your objective should be to join a site which offer
great returns on investment. It would be preferable to pick sites that have won
several awards for providing quality casino facilities for online players. Make
sure these platforms have plenty of players and regularly hosts a number of
tournaments with serious prize money. The equality of graphics should be
excellent. Remember that you will be playing games in front of the computer for
hours which can sometimes make the proceedings a little boring. So virtual
casinos that provide aesthetically designed interactive platforms should be
ones that get your vote.
Most importantly, pick online casinos that have a reputation for
prompt payments. This is by far, the most serious form of online fraud while
dealing with virtual casinos. In traditional casinos, you can exchange your
chips for cash at the end of play and walk out smiling. However, with virtual
casinos, that guarantee is not there and you need to wait until the end of the
month for the company to transfer the money to your account. Hundreds of
thousands of players have lost all their winnings because the company failed to
pay. So make sure to pick online casinos that enjoy a rock solid reputation for
prompt payment. This is key to having good experience with online casinos and
avoiding online fraud.
One way of doing that is by checking the best casinos on the
web. Try and limit your choices to the top ten. You also need to regularly
visit chat forums where players from different casino sites converge to discuss
their gaming experiences. This could prove to hugely useful and might be
helpful towards pointing you in the right direction. You also get to know the
strengths and weaknesses of all the top casinos in the world.
