Rogue online casinos are among the most popular types of online casino scams. They’ve always been with us and, unfortunately, they always will be with us. You need to know how to spot rogue online casinos and avoid them next time you play online. But how can you do that? We’ve got some pointers to help you out!
Look for the Right Signs!
If you want to spot a rogue casino site, you need to look for the right signs. It’s not hard to realize that an online casino is rogue if you know what to look for. For now, let’s tell you that the list of signs includes missing licensing, outdated websites, suspicious bonuses, bad customer support, shady games, and fake banking.
Trustworthy Casinos
Missing Licensing
Missing licensing is the first telltale sign of a rogue online gambling casino site. All trustworthy sites officially have a license by one of the licensing bodies. USA online casinos, for example, have a license in Curacao or one of the US states. Licenses typically appear on the main casino website.
Licenses guarantee that the online casino undergoes regular audits through its licensing process. This means that the games are fair and that there’s a trustworthy company behind the casino. Also, licensing bodies can act on online casinos. This means that you can turn to them for help in case you don’t get a dispute settled to your satisfaction.
Outdated Websites
Another common sign of rogue online casinos is outdated websites. The best US online casinos care about how they look. As such they have modern website designs.
Rogue online casinos, on the other hand, don’t want to invest any money. That’s why their websites tend to look clunky and outdated.
You might even notice that various links on a casino’s website don’t work or lead to strange places. That’s a huge red flag and it almost always means that someone has tampered with things. The rule of thumb is that real online casinos correct all website issues immediately. Rogue online casinos sometimes don’t correct them at all.
Suspicious Bonuses and Promotions
The online casino industry is very competitive and the best US online casinos are keeping each other in check. That means that their bonuses and promotions are similar in most regards.
You can get a new online casino bursting on the scene with generous offers here and there, of course. That doesn’t mean that you should trust everything you see, however.
If you see a sign up bonus that promises to triple or even quadruple your deposit, for example, you should start to suspect a rogue casino. You should also always check the terms and conditions. That’s where you can spot many irregularities as well.
If you’ve been around for a while, you know what to expect. If you don’t, check our best US online casinos and see how the terms and conditions of their bonuses look like. You can trust those, so everything that diverges should be seen as a warning sign.
Unresponsive Customer Support
Unresponsive customer support is one of the hallmarks of rogue online casinos. Trustworthy casinos are in contact with their customers all the time..
This means that you can contact them in a number of ways, including e-mail, phone, and live chat. They answer all queries within hours at most and they try to solve them to your satisfaction.
With rogue online casinos, you’ll have no such luck. They usually have some contact options, but you’ll be getting bad answers or no answers at all. You might get help with a deposit, as they need your money, but they don’t care about anything aside from that. Live chats tend to be lacking at rogue online casinos as well – there can be fake lines or automated answers, if there’s anything at all.
If you want to test things out, try contacting the casino you’re looking at before opening a new account. Then, see where that gets you. If the answer and response time is on par with the casinos you’re playing at, you can be more confident. If it takes too long or if there’s no answer at all, however, it’s safe to say that something is amiss.
Shady Games
Shady casino games raise a red flag and there are many ways in which rogue casinos online go about them.
The first thing that you’ll notice is that the casino you’re looking at doesn’t have any new slots for real money. This doesn’t have to mean that it’s rogue, but it’s suspicious. The best US online casinos keep their slots lobbies updated.
Whenever a new slot comes out, it’s added and made available. Rogue online casinos can only acquire older games more often than not, so you’ll see mostly old titles. That means bad graphics, poor gameplay features, and bad user interfaces.
Rogue online casinos can also rig games by adjusting their RNGs (random number generators). This means that you’ll be winning less often than you should be. Your bankroll will go down quicker and you’ll lose your deposit in no time. Moreover, rogue online casinos that are smart enough to rig their games can also mask other warning signs well.
Banking Problems
The final and most important sign of shoddy internet casinos are banking problems. You can even call it fake banking, as the scenario is always the same. Deposits work like a charm at rogue online casinos, but they seldom process payouts. That’s the very definition of rogue online casinos, in fact – you won’t get your winnings back from them no matter how hard you try!
Unfortunately, it’s hard to spot a rogue online casino on this sign alone. When you first start playing, you’ll have no issues whatsoever. You’ll be able to deposit via any of the offered methods.
This can include credit cards, debit cards, bank wires, gift cards, and even cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Litecoin. You’ll get your money credited to your account and you’ll be able to play, so you won’t notice that any issues.
They will start when you request your first payout, though. You’ll be able to request one most of the time, but that’s where the good experience will end. Your payout will never arrive and you’ll get bogged down by things like document request, payout cancellations, etc.
If you try to solve your problems via customer support, you’ll draw blanks or strange answers. The casino might tell you that you didn’t fulfill the bonus requirements. Or, you didn’t send enough documents. The bottom line is that you won’t get paid no matter what.
Final Word
If you’ve given the above a thorough read, you should have no problems spotting rogue online casinos. When you spot one of the signs at an online casino, you should be very suspicious.
You can check for casino reviews or player reviews, but don’t deposit any money if you are unsure. And, if you spot more than one of the signs at an online casino, run away!