As it stands gambling forums, watchdog sites, legitimate gaming commissions, and internet gambling sites will always have their hands full with rogue internet casinos that con players out of their hard earned cash. With no international regulatory body to govern the cyber gaming world properly, especially if one takes into account the sheer volume of nations involved in the internet gaming industry. Always be vigilant, keep your eyes peeled and a firm grip on your wallet.

Remember the various scams we’ve described in our previous articles, always make sure that you wager at sites that have been certified by reputable independent organizations such as Affiliate Guard Dog, GPWA, and eCOGRA. If you do this you increase your chances for safe and fair internet gambling significantly. However, the moment you suspect that everything is not 100% kosher, and that you might have fallen prey to an internet gambling scam, follow these guidelines:

  1. Don’t make any further deposits.
  2. Try and cash out your winnings.
  3. If you used a credit or debit card, contact your bank immediately and notify it that you might be the victim of Internet fraud.
  4. If you used an e-wallet like Neteller, or Moneybookers to fund your casino account withdraw the cash immediately from your account.
  5. Contact the support centre of the internet casino if you failed to cash out.
  6. If you still haven’t received your cash after 48 hours contact them again.
  7. If you still haven’t received your cash we suggest you “Pitch a Bitch” complaint about the casino at Casinomeister (www.casinomeister.com) or start a thread at GPWA (Gambling Portal Webmasters Association and Affiliate Guard Dog (AGD).
  8. Contact eCOGRA for assistance.

Sometimes the chances are pretty grim you’ll ever receive your cash from a rogue internet casino, make sure you learn from past mistakes. Verify a site first by doing proper research; make smaller deposits to see if they’ll pay you and always read the terms and conditions for the various bonuses and promotions offered carefully.

Player Abuse

Now that you are familiar with the dark side of the internet gaming industry, it’s safe to say that internet sports books, and internet gambling operates can sweep their ethics under the rug if it suits them. It’s not always the players that are on the receiving end of the stick but gambling operators as well. Players have cost internet casinos millions of dollars over the years due to fraudulent activity. How? By simply claiming chargebacks.

Credit card companies use this to safeguard their clients from fraud. “Chargebacks” happen when a credit institution removes the “purchase” from an account the moment it indicates illicit activity. A card holder can request this feature; loads of players deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars using credit cards to fund online casinos, or sports books, they wagered heavily and claimed their losses back claiming that the casino just stole their cash from their credit card. The credit card company immediately cancels the transaction and the online casino can kiss the money it legally won goodbye.

Player abuse like the above mentioned example is a headache for most internet casinos. Research indicates that up to 25 percent of players reverted to chargebacks subsequent heavy losses. The internet casino does not only lose the player’s cash, but it must pay the chargeback processing fees, and merchant account fees which could bankrupt a reputable gambling site in the long run. As a result of the massive amount of chargebacks claimed over the years credit card institutions now have a restrictive policy in place; they no longer permit chargebacks that involves internet gambling. Although the chargeback feature has its benefits it led to the ruin of many legitimate internet gaming sites and in part responsible for the ill reputation that clouds the gambling industry today.

Taking into account bogus casinos, scams, self-proclaimed watchdogs, and abusive players, it appears that no one could be trusted-players or internet casino alike. The good news is that the majority of online gambling sites are in fact safe and trustworthy. The important thing here is not to generalize that all online casinos are bad, many internet gambling operators go the extra mile to ensure that their players receive proper service and are well looked after.

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