Are online casinos trustworthy or a scam?

An important question for new players is if an online casinos is a safe place to play with realistic chances of winning, or if they are scamming players out of their money. There is no simple answer to that question, as with all areas in life, there are trustworthy operators and scammers. Before you play with real money on a website you should do some research, so that you avoid making a bad experience.

The online casino licence

There are a few countries that issue remote gaming licences to casino operators. There are a few differences, as the regulations and enforcement mechanisms are not the same in every country. However, it is generally recommended that the website where you play even has a license in the first place.

If the online casino does not have a licence at all it is likely that the casino is not trustworthy, and that you should not play here. Some jurisdictions that issue gaming licences are for example Malta, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Cyprus, the Netherlands Antilles Curacao and the Indian Reservation Kahnawake.

The jurisdictions with some of the most stringent regulations are Malta and the United Kingdom. To obtain such a licence the operator has to prove that they are trustworthy, and regular checks of the random number generators by independent laboratories are being performed.

Which licence the casino operator has is usually displayed n the footer of a page or in the terms and conditions. If it is unclear which licence the operator has you can also contact the customer support. In any case, if you find the casino operations or licence dubious, you should research the reputation about the casino before playing there.

The reputation of the casino with the players

If an online casino has been operating for a while it will be possible to find a lot of information about the operator. For example, you can find out if there are complaints from players in forums or websites. You can find reviews and recommendations on guide websites, such as CasinoDaemon.com. All casinos that are presented on our website have been thoroughly tested, operate with a valid licence, use encryption technologies and the games are proven to be fair.

One thing that you should keep in mind when reading about casino operators in forums, is that unhappy players will usually write complaints and vent their anger on the Internet, but a happy player is much less likely to write about his good experiences. Each case has to be treated objectively, as it may be the case that the casino has been in the right, and was acting according to their terms and conditions.

Most online casinos that are presented on our website have been in business for many years. This means that the operator is trustworthy and has many satisfied players. If that wasn't the case they wouldn't be in business any more. Rogue casinos are usually not around for very long, as players will realise quickly that the website is not trustworthy, and they will leave negative comments about the website.

If a casino has a licence you should also know that these licences are evaluated regularly, and the casinos have to renew them regularly. A rogue casino will not get issued a licence, and if they don't behave according to the regulations the licence will be revoked.

However, keep in mind that licensing bodies apply different regulations, which can be very lax or very strict. Casinos licensed in Europe usually have to follow a stricter set of regulations than a casino licensed in the Netherlands Antilles, Panama or Cyprus.

Encrypted transactions for deposits

A licensed casino will always make sure that transactions made on the website are encrypted with SSL. This prevents unauthorised people from "listening in" and stealing your financial data while it is transmitted to the payment servers. The operators of online casinos have stringent security standards for protecting your personal and financial data, and they are not given to third parties or unauthorised persons.

If you still don't want to use your credit card in an online casino, you can use other means of payments, such as e-wallets (Neteller, Payz, Skrill, MuchBetter) or voucher payments, such as Paysafecard or Astropay. You can find more payment methods for online casinos in our overview.

Summary

As explained above, there are many aspects contributing to the trustworthiness of an online casino: the casino licence, encrypted transactions, a good reputation with players and certificates of the operator. The casinos presented on this website have been in business for a long time, and proven that they are trustworthy, offer fair payouts and don't cheat the players. However, you should never play in an online casino if you feel that something isn't quite right.

FAQ

A trustworthy online casino is transparent. This transparency includes information about the license of the casino operator, and even the company who owns it. Someone who doesn't disclose the company behind the casino website is not trustworthy, and there is nothing to justify not telling players who they're spending their money with.

If you play at an unlicensed casino, you need to know that you'll be at the mercy of the operator of whether they will pay out your winnings. They'll gladly take your money, but you also won't know if you're getting a fair chance to win even, or if the games have been tampered with. And then you'll have no player protection whatsoever if the casino decides to not pay out your winnings.

You can recognise an encrypted website by the little lock in the browser address bar or the https:// prefix of the url instead of the unsecured http:// prefix. Encryption is very important, especially when you make a payment online.

An unencrypted connection can be compromised. Now this is not a particular problem when you're looking at a website, but it's a problem once you're transmitting personal data, such as a login and password, credit card details or other personal information.

You wouldn't want anyone to be able to read this information when it's transmitted unencrypted, so this is where SSL encryption comes to the rescue. Transmitted data is encrypted and if intercepted isn't readable, as it's unlikely that the person looking at it would have the encryption hash key, which can be very long and is virtually undecipherable.

We recommend to only play casino games for real money at an encrypted website. Luckily, most online websites these days utilise SSL encryption, making is much safer for players.

More and more countries are establishing casino licensing bodies that regulate online gambling. Many of these include player protection regulations, such as measures to recognise problem gambling, and they allow players to set limits on how to play or much to deposit, if they so wish.

Regulations also include the casino's conduct, and this is also where licensing bodies have many differences in how strict they are with enforcing these regulations.

European casino regulators, such as the United Kingdom, Malta, Denmark, Sweden or Gibraltar have a good reputation overall, and they regularly audit their license holders for compliance. Although there is never one hundred percent security, you'll be in good hands at a casino licensed in Europe.


Playing money games on the Internet is subject to legal and age restrictions for online gambling in your country of residence. Legal minimum age for gambling activities is 18 years in most jurisdictions. If you are under the legal age, or if online gambling is prohibited in your jurusdiction, please close this website.

CasinoDaemon is an affiliate website, and we receive a monetary commission for player referrals. We do our best keep information on here updated, and we only recommend licensed operators, that we test thoroughly. However, we cannot guarantee accuracy of all provided information.