How to Spot a Scam Casino – Red Flags to Watch Out For

You came here because you want to learn how to spot a scam casino right? And we at Casinodotreview are here to help you. It is definitely necessary to rule out all of the scam casinos before you trust them with your money, because there is a high chance you will never see it again.  In this in depth article you will learn how to spot a scam casino. You will learn what warning signs to look for, how to check the license and what to learn from other players. We have also prepared you alternative online casinos which are safe and trustworthy, so you can trust them with your hard earn money.

Warning signs of rogue casinos

Unlicensed or Fake Licensing

A license is one of the things that stands out in the first place, when deciding about trying a new online casino. We know several online casino licenses such as Curacao, Malta, Anjouan, Kahnawake, Costa Rica. There are also some of the more localized ones such as UKGCA, Swedish gambling license and others. All of those licenses ensure players a level of protection and security as the casinos operating under it are overlooked by those authorities. Which means that all the games and casino operations should be fair. In case of a dispute, players can contact a license holder to help them out deciding if casino actions were legitimate or not.

What happens if you play at an unlicensed casino?

Well technically looking you can always play there, but unlicensed casino might have some real issues. Since there is no authority overlooking such casinos, they might operate with rigged games which have critically low RTP, if there is any RTP at all. That means that you have no chance of winning in a casino. Second of all the unlicensed casino might revoke all your winnings or will not pay them out, and you have no one to complain that about. Meaning with other words, they can steal your money and there is nothing you can do about it.

Fake license

Another big thing that you need to watch out for are fake licenses on casinos. The casino might have a seal of license in their footer, however once you click on it it might happen that:

• License will not open
• License will open but it will be expired or unvalid

In such cases it means that you are playing at unlicensed online casino, with the same threats that you will find in our first described case.

To save your time hassle, nerves and money we advise you to play only at licensed casinos, since there are plenty of them available.

How to Spot a Scam Casino: Delayed or No Payouts

Second thing which absolutely raises a red flag with an online casino is a delayed or no pay out at all. Definitely this is the last thing that you wish for once you win your hard earned jackpot. This practice is pretty common nowadays for casinos, especially for a newer or a smaller ones with a small cash flow.

In order to avoid having any issues with a payout, the first thing we would recommend you is to: Check complaints about the particular casino and their pay outs.

You will find player reviews on many online gambling portals and forums such as Askgamblers or CasinoGuru, or you can search with a query like: Casino name payout problem. This way you will be able to receive first hand and unbiased information regarding the specific casino payouts.

What about the KYC?

Some of the casinos also like to delay your withdrawal by complicating your KYC process. In order to avoid having issues with that, the advise if pretty simple. Before depositing, upload your documents and make sure that your account is verified fully before you start playing and depositing. This way you will not have any delays with payouts due to missing KYC.

And withdrawal limits?

Here we can talk about maximum withdrawal limits aswell. Meaning that online casinos have a different maximum withdrawal limit per week and per month. So at some casinos you will be able to cashout 5k per month, while in the other 30k, and in the third one there is no limit at all.

Those withdrawal limits can also affect your payout time. But if you get a big win and you receive an answer from a casino that they are doing ˝security check˝before paying you out, then this is a red flag for sure.

Coming from the operators side, we know that such information is given to the player only when casino does not want to pay you out.

How to Spot a Scam Casino: Unfair Terms & Conditions

Before depositing at an online casino, we always warmly suggest to read all of the terms and conditions. Read also bonus terms and conditions aswell. This way you can find out if there are any hidden rules which might prevent you from withdrawing or limiting your maximum winnings.

Trust us, if you do this it might save you a headache or two!

Hidden rules preventing you from withdrawing winnings.

In our career we have seen many casino players winning up to 10k or 20.000€ from a no deposit bonuses. Only to realize after that, that they might receive only 20€ at maximum. That one hurts right?

Unclear wagering requirements on bonuses.

Some online casinos tend to hide and complicate bonus terms and waqering requirements, so if you can not find those feel free to check with support what are those terms. In such case save the conversation so you can use it if casino tries to complicate things.

Fraud accusation

Another problem which will red flag a casino immidiatelly is when the casino accuses you of a fraud you did not commit. Nowadays casinos tend to use this fraud trick to deny a payout. Usually players have no power to fight back on such accusations, and in this case they require to contact Askgamblers or CasinoGuru to step in and mediate.

How to Spot a Scam Casino: No or Poor Customer Support

No live chat or support that is slow to respond.

Live chat is a necessary support tool, which in most of the online casinos runs 24/7. So once you need help, it is there. We know what the frustration can be when you have big winnings which are pending and you are waiting for the casino, giving you a headache with complicating the process of withdrawal. Whenever we notice that there is no live chat support that raises not a red flag but an orange one instead. This is because of the fact that all of the serious casinos do offer a 24/7 live chat. So pay attention to that.

Generic responses that don’t resolve issues.

We dont anything more in a casino then opening a live chat only to find out that we are talking to a bot or copy pasted answer. The bot is the worst of all, as you will get no help with it mostly, especially once it comes to a more specific questions. Lets just say that a live chat bot is an AI generated FAQ section which has been modernized.

How to Spot a Scam Casino: Rigged Games & Software

Unverified software from unknown providers.

You came to the online casino only to find out that there are some game providers that you never heard of. This one is a big red flag. We advise first of all searching on the Google for that provider, to find out if it is legit or not. And in case there are no results for it, then you can be sure that this casino is a scam.

But it is not always that easy. It can also happen that a scam casino will run pirated games from the major game providers. In such case it is really hard to notice that the version of the game is pirated, and it will not pay out any wins for sure. Such pirated games are a big hazard since the casinos operate with them on a super low RTP usually, which can be never set on the original game.

No certification from independent auditors like eCOGRA, iTech Labs, or GLI.

All of the major game providers work with independent auditors like eCOGRA or Itech Labs. Those auditors make sure that the casino games are working properly, and they test them out by the RNG and RTP testing. Since it is pretty hard to find for a regular player if the games were certified or not we do like to simplify things for the players with the following advice.

Firstly check for the casino license, and if the license is valid. If casino has a valid license, you can be pretty much sure that it also offers legit casino games, which have been certified.

How to Spot a Scam Casino: Overly Aggressive Promotions

Unrealistic bonuses (e.g., 500% welcome bonus with impossible wagering).

Agressive promotions are also one way to spot a scam casino right away. Nowadays we have lots of new online casinos trying to make their way into a highly competitive casino market. And they do that usually by offering high welcome bonuses, normally a lot higher than are offered by other seasoned casinos.

But we have to be super careful with the aggressive promotions. Not every too good to be true promotion is a scam or a fake promotion. Some casinos tend to put out high bonuses just to get new players in, and they are ready to lose money on those. It is like investing in a marketing.

While other scam casinos will put out high bonuses just to lure the players in, while they know that players will not stand any chance by playing in their casino.

We advise you to always check if the casino is a legit before claiming any high bonuses, and also to read bonus terms and conditions. You might get a super high bonus, but in the end you will find out that you will be limited on a cashout. Is this a scam? Not really, if that is all stated in bonus terms and conditions. But it can be a bit disappointing or shady to say.

No-wager bonuses that come with hidden restrictions.

No wagering bonuses are getting pretty popular nowadays in online casinos. This is because players do not want anymore to play through hars wagering requirements that bonuses have. No wagering bonuses bring a fresh wave, and it is pretty easy to win with them since you can cash out pretty much instantly.

But where is the trick? It must be some trick right?

Well, there is a trick, and that is that online casinos tend to limit your cashout to a certain amount.

Take Wolfy casino for example, they offer up to 1.000€ in welcome bonuses. But once it comes to the cashout, you will be limited to 5x bonus amount.

So if you take 200€ on first deposit bonus, you will be able to cashout maximum of 1.000€

As long as those bonus terms are clearly stated, we are fine with it. Its logically to us that if a casino offers you a no wagering bonus, which is a high risk bonus for a casino, that it will have to limit the winnings somehow.

How to Spot a Scam Casino: Bad Reputation & Player Complaints

Too many negative reviews on casino watchdog sites like AskGamblers, Trustpilot, or Casinomeister.

Whenever you come to a new online casino, we advise you to check reviews on casino comparison sites. This way you will be able to avoid a scam casino right away, since you will get a first hand experiences from the players.

Currently there are plenty of casino review websites such as Askgamblers, CasinoGuru, Casinomeister, Trustpilot and others. There you are able to check the casino overall rating, pros and cons and player reviews. We do not recommend you to play at online casinos which have bad feedback and low rating.

Players frequently report the same issues (e.g., account bans after big wins).

If you spot multiple player reviews regarding problems with the KYC or withdrawals, then you might have a problem. Especially if those comments were one after another or in the same time period. This means that if you decide to go for that online casino, you might have the same problem yourself later on. We always recommend to check the bad and the good reviews, and make your own opinion of the casino based on those.

Conclusion

Nowadays scammers are on the rise, and we are facing more scams than ever before. Those scams also became easier to run with all of the new technology being availalble. A casino business has some shady reputation overall, and casinos who are scamming player are not helping with that at all.

We hope that we helped you to learn a bit more about how to spot a scam casino, so you will not get scammed yourself. Putting your hard earned money in a casino is never easy, and you definitely want your winnings to get paid out once you hit a nice win. In short, if you check casino license, the overall reputation, ratings on the other sites and feedback from the players, it will be hard to scam you. So as long as you stick to our guide about how to spot a scam casino, you are good to go!

FAQ ( Frequently Asked Questions)