At NewestCasinos, it is our duty to ensure that you only play at the best online casinos on the web. As part of our responsibility, we take a good, hard look at the countless gambling sites and pick out the most reputable and trustworthy names – and, with that, we also identify those that are not.
There are quite a few sites out there that don’t have any intention of providing players with quality service. In fact, their main goal is to scam players out of their hard-earned money before packing it all in and leaving you cheated. That’s why we have put together a list of blacklisted casinos – so you know where you should never spend your money and can avoid online casino scams.
Contents
The Warning Signs
When you’re browsing the web for an online casino to play at, it can be difficult to choose. There are so many sites to choose from – many offer great-looking design and impressive bonus offers. While, most sites operate above board, there are some online casino scams that slip through the cracks, and are able to masquerade as reputable sites while being anything but. So you should be sure to keep your eye out for red flags like delayed payments and false advertising.
Be sure to do your research on the new potential gaming site before registering as a member, and certainly before depositing any money. If you have a funny feeling about any of the following points or have heard about them through the grapevine, then it’s likely that you’re dealing with a site that should be on our casino blacklist.
License? What License?
Licensing and auditing authorities.
Online casinos should be licensed in a reputable jurisdiction, where authorities keep an eye on their operations. The license that an online casino has should be listed right on their homepage for all players to see. The following locations are those that provide casinos with licenses:
- Gibraltar
- Alderney
- Costa Rica
- Curacao
- The United Kingdom
- Malta
Sites that have licenses in other locations are mostly likely online casino scams. However, some sites even go so far as to include the seal of a licensing body that it doesn’t even have a license from. This information can be quite time consuming to double-check, so we take this step for you at NewestCasinos.
Not Completing Payments
It’s natural for it to take a few days (or even a week) for online casinos to process withdrawals. This is due to the casino’s own fraud checks and the processes conducted by the banking options. However, if players are left waiting for more than seven days for their payout, then that is certainly a red flag.
It is a good idea to look at the list of online payment methods that a casino offers. You should see reputable names like Mastercard, Visa and Neteller. Avoid sites that only offer deposits via money orders and wire transfers, as cash-only sites have a highly possibility of being a scam.
Keep an Eye on RTPs
If you’re unfamiliar with the term RTP, it means “return to player”. This number lets you know how much money is paid out to players, on average, for every $100 they spend. In other words, it is the house edge for the casino. This number is normally published somewhere on the site, and it should be easy to find. If you have to search through pages and pages before finding the RTP, then you might be dealing with a scam site.
Double check with the payouts.
This also applies to audits. Reputable casinos are audited on a regular basis by a trustworthy authority. This information should also be included on the site in a location that is easily accessible.
Furthermore, fluctuating RTPs are a bad sign. You don’t want to play at a site that advertises a 95% RTP one minute and an 80% RTP the next. The return to player statistic should not change and, if it does, that is very concerning.
Too Good to Be True Bonuses
Ever seen an online casino bonus that is suspiciously generous? Most online casinos provide players with a 100% bonus on their first deposit. This is a standard bonus, and it doesn’t ring any alarms. If you see a 200% or 300% match bonus, it is usually part of a welcome package that includes smaller bonuses.
However, if you come across a promotion that offers you a 500% bonus on your first deposit up to $5000, then you should definitely take a second look. These types of bonuses are inflated to entice players to join, tempting them to deposit without a second thought before the site simply takes your money and runs. Any site with casino bonus that seems too good to be true probably is – so, it’s best to mark that down on your list of online casino scams.
Bad Communication
You should take a look at the Contact Us page of any online casino. While it is becoming increasingly out-of-fashion for sites to offer players telephone support, there should be at least a couple of convenient options. Live chat, email, Skype and WhatsApp are among the contact methods that should be available.
If you’re only offered an email address, that looks a bit fishy, as the site can simply never reply. You should be able to speak to a customer service agent in real time using any of the above methods, and it seems quite shady if there is no way to speak to someone who works for the casino directly.
Our List of Online Casino Scams
If you don’t have the time to go through all of the steps above, don’t worry. We’ve done the hard work for you. We’ve collected information on all of the blacklisted casinos we could find so that you don’t have to find out about any online casino scams the hard way.
We review all blacklisted casinos on a case-by-case basis and ensure that we address all of the complaints that players put forward. We make our judgement based on our in-depth research of every site, and you can find out more about each one in our blacklist:
Sure, there is a chance that a site may reform itself. In those cases, we’ll review the evidence and let players know if it has become a safe place to play. It will undergo the same scrutiny as the first time around, as we know that a simple rebrand isn’t enough to make us change our minds.
Trustworthy Advice from Gaming Experts
We know what you’re thinking – “why should I trust the guys at NewestCasinos?”. We can assure that our only goal is to keep players from spending their money at sites that run online casino scams. We know how hard you work for your money, and there’s nothing worse than losing some of it to a shyster.
As lovers of online casinos ourselves, it is important that we do our best in trying to protect the entire gaming community by alerting you of all the casino scams that we’ve come across. Our team features slots fans and blackjack buffs, so we wouldn’t want to lead fellow players astray. We know it is all too common for players to fall prey to online casino scams, and we make it a priority to prevent this from happening.
To populate our blacklist and ensure that you have all the information you need about online casino scams, we definitely do our research. These are the steps that we take to compile our collection of blacklisted casinos:
- We confirm with the licensing body that casinos actually have a license in that particular jurisdiction
- We continuously crawl message boards and forums to find out about players concerns and complaints about particular sites
- We look at bonus offers and ensure that the casino operator is following through properly
- We test all customer support communications
- We double check with the sites’ software providers that the advertised RTPs are accurate
Casino Integrity
Any establishment that handles money must adhere to important procedures that protect players. Unfortunately, not all companies abide by these rules, and there are even some that evade them altogether in order to make a quick buck. At NewestCasinos, it’s very important to us that only the most trustworthy casinos, those that work hard to maintain their integrity, are the ones that players frequent.
That’s why we work tirelessly to keep our collection of blacklisted casinos up to date and why we are so diligent about investigating these sites. You can count on us to deliver honest information about online casino scams so that you can play your favorite games safely.
