There
still exists a lot of suspicion and reluctance when it comes
to providing credit card and other sensitive data over the
Internet. And rightly so. Wherever there is money to be made,
criminal elements are always active. Gambling resource sites
like G-index.net and others have been formed to provide informative
and detailed reviews to filter out the bad sites (blacklisted).
Not all are run by criminals that will try to fleece your
credit card, but some may have poor customer service, unlikely
to pay out a big win, have dodgy company history, don't hold
a valid gaming licence and other issues that may spoil your
experience.
So is online gambling safe? Yes, of course it is, but you
have to choose a site with the highest integrity. It is like
everything in life - you have to use common sense and read
up as much as possible if you are still unsure about a gaming
site that interests you. You wouldn't go into a bank called
"Dodgy Bank plc" and deposit a large sum in cash
without making appropriate checks. Or rush to buy gold sold
in a back street for $10 per ounce. The same applies to the
Internet. Use common sense. If a promotional offer sounds
too good to be true, it is likely to be too good to be true!!!
There are a number of ways to ensure that the gaming site
that you decide to try out is 100% legitimate. Below are some
of the safeguards that we recommend that you take:
1. INTEGRITY
Select a gaming site with the highest integrity. Well, the
first to look for is a well known brand such as Ladbrokes,
William Hill, Party Poker, Gammon Empire, and Sporting Index.
Most of the nationally advertised gambling sites on TV such
as 888.com, Party Poker, Victor Chandler, Ladbrokes and so
on tend to have high integrity. But make sure of the URL (web)
address when you visit a web site. You can check with a web
browser "plug-in" software such as FraudEliminator.
This software is available free at www.fraudeliminator.com.
It lists where a site is hosted and when it was created. For
example, be sceptical if Citibank.com seems to have moved
to the Caribbean or was recently created; the software also
alerts you when you encounter a site in a database of known
security and phisting threats.
2. RESEARCH
There are tons of gaming resource sites that provide reviews,
recommendations, advertisement etc. trying to tempt you to
go to a particular gaming site. Again, there is the element
of trust issue. Which resource sites to trust? Well, a good
place to start is to check out the "NEWS" section
of a well-respected publication such as the New York Times,
the Guardian, the BBC, CNN or one of the national newspaper
websites and search for "Gambling", "Online
Casinos" or "Poker Rooms". As online gambling
is a huge business, there are plenty of articles covering
gambling. In the articles, you will find various online gambling
sites mentioned and if it is a positive write-up such as that
they have listed on a major stock exchange, that offers quite
a lot of assurances that the gaming site is operated by a
properly regulated organisation.
3. JOIN INTERACTIVE GAMBLING FORUMS
The best form of assurance is to be recommended a particular
gaming site by someone you trust. If you don't know anyone
that you can ask, then join a few interactive Gambling Forums.
If the member postings contain both positive and negative
reviews, the Forum is likely to be a valid forum where members
exchange views freely without bias towards a particular gambling
institution or online gaming site. Then you can compare the
reviews at one forum with those contained in the other forums.
For example, at G-index.net there is a message board where
you can read what other members write about various poker
rooms, online casinos and other online gambling sites, as
well as their experiences. Make some postings such as what
people think of a particular online gaming site and see what
kind of responses you get. If that is not sufficient, you
can always enter the Chat Room to ask questions and so on.
If the advice sounds to be genuine and in essence match the
views seen in your research, it might be worthwhile to check
out that particular online gambling site(s). The more you
interact with the other members, the more you get to know
them and with time, the trust factor has been established.
4. SELECTING AN ONLINE GAMBLING SITE
If you are worried if the online gambling site that you are
interested in is safe and secure, check out their website
for information regarding encryption, what they do with any
data that you provide when signing up, their terms and conditions,
where their gaming licence has been issued, their contact
details and so on. Any decent gaming site should provide all
the information above. Often the critical trust information
should be on the home page, FAQ, security and/or "about
us" page.
- all data exchanged should use encryption such as SSL
- guarantee that any personal data provided is not used
for anything else apart from in relation to your account
with the particular gaming site
- easy to find terms and conditions - and please read them
carefully
- hold a valid gaming licence from a respected source such
as Kahnawake, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and some of
the Caribbean Islands
- should have telephone support preferably but if they don't,
then 24/7 e-mail support as well as landbased contact details
of their head office and a landbased telephone number -
call the telephone number to ensure that someone answers
appropriately
Online Gambling is a multi-billion dollar business and the
fastest growing business on the Internet. There are hundreds
of genuine and trustworthy online gambling sites but just
use common sense and follow sound advice such as that given
above when selecting a gaming site to try out. |
