Keeping an Eye Out for Online Sportsbook Scams

Sports betting has been a popular form of gambling for a very long time. Everyone wants to place a wager on their favorite sports team, greyhound, horse, or fight. The online version of this pastime has allowed this to expand because gamblers no longer have to visit the event in order to place a bet, but for every legitimate site, there are online sportsbook scams out there looking to steal a user's information and money.

Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover

Just because a venue looks legitimate doesn't mean it is. Unscrupulous owners will go the extra mile to make their venues look just like the actual sportsbooks, just to lure people in. The best idea in this situation is to do a quick search on Google. Enter the domain name followed by the word 'scam' and click search. This should bring up both reviews and firsthand accounts from users that have used the establishment in the past. This doesn't always offer a 100% verdict in either direction, but it can give the user a good idea if his or her money is about to go down the drain.

If It Looks Too Good To be True

Another trick that these online sportsbook scams use when trying to lure people in is entirely unrealistic bonuses. Enormous deposit bonuses are almost always a sign of a con artist. While the bonus money may be deposited in the player's account, there is a good chance that he or she may never see any of it, or be able to cash out any money that may have been won using the bonus to wager. Similarly, most of these establishments don't need to go overboard in the marketing department. There is no need to advertise because their desired clientele searches them out anyway. In general, if the gambler gets unsolicited emails or phone calls from these venues asking for a deposit, it's a good idea to think twice. Many of these online sportsbook scams also use information that they have purchased or stolen from other sources.

No Honor Among Thieves

There are hundreds of blogs and websites that offer their web space up for advertising for online casinos and bookmakers, many of which get paid for each player that signs up using their unique link or code. In the case of scam books, these affiliates are either entirely ignorant of the shady practices of the venue that they are advertising, or in most cases, are complicit in the crimes. They will knowingly encourage their readers to bet with proprietors that are only interested in stealing from the gamblers.

Check out the Licensing

All of the legal bookmakers are licensed though their country of origin, as well as heavily regulated. Many scam books start out as legitimate sites in order to get that licensing. Usually it is revoked once the country's regulatory committee finds out about the unsavory practices, but these websites don't always remove the licensing information from the site once it has been revoked. A quick Google search can save a gambler a lot of money and heart ache, and make it much easier to avoid these unwholesome establishments entirely.