Rogue Casinos

You may have heard the term “Rogue Casino” floating around the online gaming world. Frauds, hucksters and scam artists often run them. What’s worse is that the term is slightly too generous for the operating practices of these unlicensed casinos.

Rogue casinos are those online casinos, which are considered shady or illegitimate due to one or more aspects of their business practices including (but not limited to) withholding payouts, lacking any payout mechanisms, and/or illegally altering software behind supposedly-regulated games.

Imagine all of the qualities that make a casino desirable; rogue casinos are the opposite. They are dishonorable businesses that are inconsistent at best, or completely fraudulent at worst. With so many casinos available online–how does the discerning customer protect themselves from these scams?

List of Rogue Casinos

How to Identify a Rogue Casino

While spotting a fake casino might seem like no trouble for an experienced gambler, some rogue casinos manage to stay in business despite their dodgy practices. In some cases these operations may even paradoxically grow in popularity, despite their dishonest business methods. This is usually because they are pouring a lot of funds into marketing knowing they are scamming people anyways.

A local regulatory body often still officially licenses these casinos, so a certification isn’t a guarantee of quality. This is because it can be as simple as having the proper forms filled out (in some regulatory jurisdictions) to be “certified and accredited”. A rogue casino can pose as a legitimate, perfectly legal enterprise for months or even years while waiting to amass a large enough threshold of deposits. This is because regulatory priorities are biased towards responding to consumer fraud complaints, which is completely logical, but it also means there’s no way of predicting or preventing potential fraud from new or anonymous online casinos.

Do the casino pay out?

The first question you need to ask when you’re considering a new casino is, do they pay out? This is a matter of primary importance since you will presumably be putting plenty of your own money towards their services. Even if a casino has a great selection and responsive customer service, if there is no way for you to retrieve your winnings, it won’t matter.

While all (even legitimate) online casinos make it much easier to deposit than withdraw your funds, there is a marked difference between this common inconvenience and outright fraud. Look into some reviews on the casino of your choice before you play to see what other players are saying, knowing if a casino pays out is definitely something you’ll need to know.

Are the games fair?

The second, perhaps equally important question to ask yourself when trying to spot a rogue casino is, are their games fair? You’ll often see a notice on an online casino’s site that will say something like, “These machines are guaranteed to work off of a random number generator.” There’s a good reason for that – rogue casinos are notorious for running non-random games.

It is important to know before hand whether or not the casino you have selected is known to play fair, because once you get cheated, it can be difficult to get any justice. While there are very harsh penalties for operating a rogue casino, retrieving your money is not at the top of the priority list. The casino operators first need to be tracked down and prosecuted, and even then there is a slim chance that you will be reunited with your swindle cash.

Rogue Casino Red Flags:

• Confusing web copy: phishing scam artists and pop-up rogue casinos are making an economic decision to swindle you. Taking the time to invest in edited, sensical, and descriptive text on every page of their website. If you spot chunks of text that make no sense in context–beware! Chances are you’ve spotted a copy-paste job, which is a huge red flag for fraud!
• Broken links: test the hyperlinks on any casino you are considering gambling on. If they can’t be bothered to redirect their tabs and links to the proper location, there’s a chance they can’t be bothered to be a safe and secure repository for your gambling winnings.
• Lacking certification: while a Verisign icon or the eCOGRA regulatory assurance logo are not guarantees that the operator of the website is totally scrupulous, it is telling if the website can’t even be bothered to fake a form of accreditation. If you’re going to fall prey to a scam casino, you ought to do so to one that is at least trying!

Review their reputation

A few things fall under this category; it is important to note if the casino in question is honoring their promotions, protecting your information, providing reasonable customer service– that kind of thing. While it’s of the utmost importance to know whether or not a casino will pay, or whether it is random it can be very important to know how they conduct themselves on important matters–such as conveniently delaying jackpot sized payments. Remember, even though they may not have the intention of directly committing fraud, being intentionally and knowingly neglectful, still constitutes this crime. Always take note of what reviews say because even a completely fair casino might not be worth your time if they put out false advertisements and have poor customer service.

As long you look into things before depositing money into a casino, you should be reasonably well protected against scams and rogue casinos. Others will definitely speak up if they have a negative experience with a casino, so learn from their mistakes!

Why are there so many rogue casinos?

Perhaps the most surprising thing about rogue casinos is that there are so many of them. This can seem especially peculiar when you consider that there are tons of online casinos which are legitimate, licensed, and regulated. Unfortunately, even a regulatory system can’t completely protect the customer from fishy businesses, and these things can fall through the cracks, as a victim has to come forward. It can be difficult to tell if you’re a victim of fraud, neglect, or if there is simply a temporary technical glitch on your end.

These shady casinos rely on the uncertainty and hedge-betting that comes with deciding whether or not you have fallen victim to their scams. Worse yet, some casinos aren’t even accredited. Less discerning customers might underestimate the importance of verifying that type of information, and may go straight to depositing (which is exactly what the owners are counting on). Rogue casinos thrive on those kinds of tactics: attracting a few unknowing customers, taking their money, refusing to pay out, and then closing up shop before they can get in trouble. It’s terrible, but it’s real. There’s a good reason they’re called “rogue”.

Lists of rogue casinos can be quite expansive – for every legitimate online casino out there, there are at least a dozen illegitimate ones. You can look these lists up and scan them yourself if you’re feeling extra-suspicious about a casino, but if you keep in mind the information above, you’ll get better at seeing the signs..

How can I be absolutely safe from scam casinos?

Reviews are your best friend in this situation. Always make sure you see what people are saying first, since you probably won’t be getting any money back if you accidentally deposit into a fraudulent casino. First-hand user reviews, such as the ones on this site, will tell you a lot of what you need to know about any given casino.

Aside from that, make good use of Google, and above all trust your gut instinct. Sometimes it will be very clear who is a legitimate online casino and who isn’t. As an online gambler, it can be easy to get your name on email lists and subscription blasts that are often purchased by disreputable figures. Only gamble from sites you have researched and chose to visit – not one that came with an email coupon.