Playing online casino games are a fun way to pass the time, and providing that you do so well can even be a lucrative hobby. However, much like any internet activity, gambling online comes with security risks, and if you’re not careful, you can quickly become a victim.
Whether you’re a tech addict or a technophobe, the internet can be brutal to navigate. Failure to adhere to relevant security measures can lead to you being taken advantage of or losing money, personal information, or both.
While online casinos continue to soar to new heights, with seasoned and novice gambling fans signing up every day, the safety and security of players is a top priority. Emerging fans are even more susceptible to fraudsters, as they lack the security knowledge seasoned gamblers possess and are therefore easier to target.
It’s essential to act and educate people looking to join the world of online gambling, so we’ve created this article outlining a few safety tips for novice online gamblers to keep them safe and minimize the risk of falling victim to fraud or scams.
Register With Reputable Online Casinos
Before you invest your hard-earned money into a service or product, you want to ensure that what you’re investing in is reputable. When you’re searching for an online casino to join, ensure that you conduct research into the service you’ve stumbled across. Don’t just join the first online casino that pops up after your first Google search, as this is not an indicator of respect.
Instead, conduct background research into the casino and look at reviews left by customers. No two online casinos are the same, and much like other business industries or sectors, there are always unscrupulous operators hidden amongst the trustworthy. Failure to conduct a proper background check on an online casino could lead to you finding out things about the operator that you don’t align with your personal beliefs or needs.
Finding a live online casino that is reputable is tough. Still, providing that you do your research and use helpful, online resources such as the ones PlayLive.co.za provide – you should be able to make an informed decision. For more insight, peruse their website today for more gambling-related resources or play online casino live.
Check Out The Site’s Security Measures
After conducting background checks into the online casino, you intend to register with; your next step should be to ensure that the site is secure and safe. For any online casino to operate, it needs a license granted by the governing body of its country of origin, which should be displayed at the footer of its website.
Finding out who granted the operator their license is essential, as, in the worst-case scenario, it will be that governing body that will assess your complaint and decide the outcome. While carrying out these security checks, you should determine whether your chosen operator is SSL certified and if the certification is still in date.
A website that is SSL certified protects the safety and security of its customers by encrypting all online transactions and personal data so that scammers cannot steal it. So, ensuring that your chosen operator is certified is essential for deciding whether to do business with the company and shouldn’t be overlooked.
Don’t Use Public Wi-Fi While Gambling
Although public internet connections can be beneficial while we’re out and about, many public Wi-Fi servers either have poor or little to no security measures in place, which can be dangerous when gambling online. Due to the little regard towards security, public internet connections are a prime target for cybercriminals to steal personal or financial data from unsuspecting victims.
Many cybercriminals utilize the appeal of public Wi-Fi networks for ‘spoofing’, a term used to describe when a scammer pretends to be something or someone else to steal personal or financial data. To avoid this, ensure that you limit when you play online casino live to times when you’re connected to a secure, private internet connection and only use public networks if you must.
Especially avoid public networks that ask for personal information, such as your name, email etc., to access the internet unless it’s from a trusted source and strive never to use public Wi-Fi for any online transactions.
Avoid Casinos That Require Software Downloads To Play
Nowadays, most modern online casinos enable players to play online casino live using their internet browser or mobile application instead of downloading and installing software to play. Utilising an internet browser-based format to play online casino live versus installing software onto your computer is more secure as software can pose security threats.
The whole point of an online casino is so that players can play online without downloading and installing anything on their devices. So, any casino that requires you to download software before you can play defeats the point and isn’t worth considering. There are plenty more online casinos that enable you to play through your internet browser – so keep searching!