It’s our job to focus on finding out the best casinos on the Internet. And that requires to roll our sleeves up and get our hands dirty. In all the muck, we manage to find the shiny little diamonds that constitute the cohort of reliable operators. However, not all brands are honest. In fact, there are quite a few that operate for the sole purpose of amassing a quick buck and then packing up and moving. Here at CasinoClassic.com, we absolutely abhor dodgy business practice, that’s why we are quick to call out casino scams with inexorable certainty and scathing criticism.
Objectivity still reigns supreme in our judgement, though. Read on to find out:
- How we sift through casinos and blacklist the bad ones;
- A complete list of all identified fraudsters out there;
- How we manage to keep our list up to date.
The casino blacklist is often a challenging undertaking. Many operators who dabble in such practices tend to drop out of the radar and later appear in new skin. We have a keen eye for spotting them quickly, though, and here’s how we manage.
Casino Scams: How to Find Them
It’s often unsettling when people complain, and a brand is failing to communicate. The infuriating silence may seem like a smart business move, but it’s in fact the undoing of any casino that fails to uphold the industry’s integrity standards. Complaints are the first indicator that something is amiss.
We examine dedicated communities across the Internet and study the history of separate operators. More importantly, certain communities even keep unresolved cases open and reflect any changes in the ticket, whether it has been resolved or put on hold, or left as a complete mess. This in turn affects public opinion, so casinos often seek to patch things up quickly.
You will notice that most will always provide some sort of reply, but they may rely on the Terms and Conditions to form an answer, making it look professional without offering real solution to a problem. This is where we swoop in to decide whether the T&C support their argument.
Reasons for Alarm?
A brand that would allow itself to come under rapid fire of the majority of its player base is not a good place to open our accounts. And people who complain do so out of several main reasons:
- Payments haven’t been met
As educated gamblers, we know that moving money out of the casino can take a few days and even weeks. Whilst security checks can’t be simply skipped, not getting your check or bank transfer in a few weeks is already raising suspicion, not to mention it’s frustrating. A look at the available payment options beforehand could also help you avoid such unpleasant scenarios.
More important still, the majority of operators today try to have you sorted within a few business days, raising the industry’s standard and making it more difficult for dishonest casinos to justify their actions.
- Fair Play by the Hour
Rigged numbers simply won’t do. Fraudsters love to stilt the numbers of their return to player (RTP) rate, coaxing newbies with the solid 95%, but then throwing a spanner in the works and tanking the numbers. It takes some time to catch them out, especially if they are not a subject to third-party auditioning, but when we do, we put them on the casino blacklist without hesitation. The most accomplished casinos’ RTPs are checked every day, if not every hour, by an automated software.
- False Advertising
It’s been a source of much contention in the gambling industry as a whole. That’s why the majority of casinos are now giving up on advertising untold riches or they try to make it explicitly clear that there are difficult and mandatory playthrough requirements. Less reputable casinos glean over the facts readily.
- Communication breakdown
If a casino fails to get back to you, especially if they have promised to do so, it’s another sure-fire sign that matters may be going the wrong way. Communication is essential to solving conflicts and a casino that isn’t willing to work on an issue probably isn’t worth your hard-earned money.
The Naughty List of Casino Scams
Putting together a reliable list of casino scams cases is indeed demanding. It requires abundant data trawling and case-by-case reviews of individual complaints. As former due diligence analysts and full-time casino experts, we know how to glean data and put two and two together.
Not a single complaint goes unanswered. We boldly approach operators and seek their opinion on the matter. Our final judgement is found in facts and we don’t take the decision of blacklisting a casino lightly. However, when we do – our decision is final.
Even if our decisions are adamant, we are still open to the possibility of a casino changing its fortunes. A change in ownership may spur a much-needed reform of how matters are handled. However, a simple re-branding wouldn’t do and any casino that wants to be out in the clear will have to work painstakingly and not let a single report of misdeed catch up to it.
Why Trust Us?
Our only interest is to provide genuine and thoroughly curated information. This often means to spot the quirky little aberrations that often reveal something amiss. We home in on such subtleties and bring them into the open.
Most importantly, we put ourselves in your shoes. We love spending time playing casino games, and our team consists from the sworn video slot aficionado to the card-dealing pros and roulette-loving enthusiast.
In investigating matters for you, we focus on creating a roadmap that even you can follow:
- We tap into the public domain to collect all available information.
- Our experts check the software provider and determine if the RTP are met.
- We follow community boards where transgressions of operators are being discussed;
- We investigate bonus offers and whether those are advertised properly.
- If a license is available, we will have a look at that too and follow through with the authorizing body for confirmation.
A Final Thought on Integrity
Casino scams are not all that uncommon these days, but as gamers are growing more informed and the industry’s standards are going up, it’s more difficult for fraudulent operators to have their way. In fact, the increase in screening has forced even the most disreputable players to change their ways. Our casino blacklist will continue to exist for as long as someone tries to cheat gamers out of their precious money.
Mind, though, that there’s plenty of coloring along the lines by some of the established casinos, too. We make sure, though, that such transgressions are kept on record as a reminder that the difference between a top brand and a blacklisted miscreant is not all that great.
