Are Online Casinos Safe?
Online casinos are generally legitimate, safe and regulated. Unfortunately, you do get the odd rogue operator which spoils the reputation of all the others. Fortunately, these are fairly easy to spot with just a few simple checks.
This article looks at how to make sure you play at a safe online casino from several different perspectives. The regulated international casinos are considered first, many of these are 100% reputable, with many listed on the London Stock Exchange. I then look at US online casinos, which are based offshore – mostly in the Caribbean. After that some checks you can go through are considered, and then some ways you can stay even more safe by keeping your bank account details and the online casinos separated.
Safe International Online Casinos
Many of the big international online casinos are huge companies which are regulated by the best respected jurisdictions around. You will find that the biggest of these, including many UK sports book brands, are listed on the London Stock Exchange. This means they are subject to financial reporting rules which keep players safe – you’ll get a warning if any of these companies are in financial difficulty with plenty of time to get your money safely withdrawn.
The European regulators and licensing bodies have strict compliance policies. If you see a casino licensed by Gibraltar, Malta, Alderney or the Isle Of Man, then the chances of them being a safe and legitimate operator are very high indeed.
Safe US Online Casinos
US casinos are a little harder to validate the safety of. These casinos operate from offshore locations and often have complex and opaque ownership structures. With legal changes in the US making the safe international casinos leave, these casinos are the only real options outside of the regulated States.
Many are legitimate, and some of them are well known brand names which have been serving the US market for a number of years.
Licensing jurisdictions to look out for here include Kahnawake, Panama, Antigua and the Netherlands Antilles. Having a license at one of these places is not a guarantee of being legitimate, however not holding one means you should almost certainly not be playing for real money.
Things to Look Out For at Safe Online Casinos
A license is only the starting point for the factors to look out for when assessing whether an online casino is safe. I also like to see external RNG certification, a range of payment options, a solid reputation online and clear contact details before I am sure that a casino is legitimate.
RNG certification involves an external audit of the software which drives the deal of cards and the spin of slots. There are 3rd party companies which specialize in providing audits of this software, with the best known examples being TST (Technical Systems Testing) and iGaming Labs. Legitimate casinos are happy to display this information, together with their return to player percentages.
Payment options are a good sign because many of the companies behind these have their own checks before accepting a casino. What is more if there are too many charge-backs or disputes, then the payment method will be dropped. Some methods, including PayPal, are very strict about which casinos they will work with – making this a trust-signal all of its own.
Reputation is everything for an online casino. If your casino has payments issues or scandals, you can be absolutely sure that it is being talked about online. Any casino search will bring up pieces by people who cannot get their head around losing 5 hands of Blackjack in a row. If you look beyond the noise then it is possible to get a great impression of which casinos are safe and which are not.
Contact details are a final factor. Telephone numbers, address information and information about who owns a casino is great to see. This gives you peace of mind above and beyond a mysterious offshore operator that hides behind some generic e-mail address.
Keeping Your Bank Account Information Safe
Some people prefer to stay extra safe by not sharing their credit card or bank information with any online casino. If you are an international player, then you can do this with e-wallet services including Neteller and Skrill. You get an account at these services, and then deposit at the casino using that instead of your card.
US players will not be able to access these services, though other methods are available. These include pre-paid Visa cards (which you can buy from convenience stores and gas stations) and money transfer services such as Western Union. Withdrawals by paper check also prevent you from having to share banking information directly.
As you can see, most casinos are completely safe – and with just a few additional steps you can make sure you are playing at a legitimate operator and keeping your bank information safe too.