Scammers have always been a part of society. From ancient Greece and Rome to our modern day, written records tell us of fraudulent practices that were aimed at separating people from their money. Today, much of that type of fraud has gone online, giving scammers an extra layer of protection as they often evade identification.
Sloto gamers - as is anyone who uses the internet - are the targets of much of today’s scams. They are often unsuspecting of the dangers that can come from depositing bets and withdrawing payouts online, clicking on links to games and answering emails from unknown sources.
If you are playing online you should pay careful attention to the steps that you need to take to protect yourself, your account and your ebanking transactions. Your online safety is important to us - which is why we're bringing you these 'best practices' for online gaming.
Scamming
Scamming has been a human activity for thousands of years. Until the 6th century BCE when cash was introduced, Egyptian tax collectors routinely “miscalculated” the amount of taxes that farmers were obligated to pay. During that same era the Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote about fraudulent activities surrounding the enactment of the Seisachtheia when the Greeks were released from slavery for debts.
Seafaring countries were prone to fraud from ships’ crews who would try to sink the ships in order to collect insurance money. The Praetorian Guard of ancient Rome sold the rights to the Roman throne in 193 A.D. – a throne to which they had no rights.
Fraudsters big and small operated in all areas of the world – one of the most spectacular scams was Britain’s South Sea Bubble fraud which targeted members of Britain’s government and upper crust in the early 1700s and caused havoc in the world financial markets.
By the 1800s, many conmen realized that, instead of targeting the rich, they could make good money by grabbing small amounts of money from more people, They sold “miracle cure” patent medicines, Bibles and other items in which people placed their hope. Once checks and credit cards came into use fraudsters used those as methods of separating people from their money.
Today, most of the scamming has moved online. There are scammers who contact people through social media and pretend to be someone who they aren’t in order to convince them to send them money. Others offer opportunities to order goods and services that, in reality, don’t exist.
One of the biggest scamming efforts involves targeting online gamers - casino and others - who transfer deposits and withdraw payments from their accounts on a regular basis and therefore, are accustomed to making financial transactions online.
Gaming Scams
The global video and online casino gaming industry is thriving. People are increasingly turning to online platforms for escapism, especially during the era of social distancing. The gaming industry is reporting significant increases in user numbers month after month, year after year.
The increase in audience engagement has highlighted the risks of playing games online. As the number of players grows, so does the number of scammers who take advantage of in-game purchases, in-game currencies, ebank transfers to and from casino accounts and cryptocurrency that is stored in wallets. Many players aren’t aware of the risks and are highly susceptible to the ploys used to gain access to their accounts and private information.
The gaming industry has developed some basic strategies they use to guide players to gaming safety. They include:
Official Websites
Whenever you are making a deposit at an online casino or making a purchase related to a game, only use the official website. Don’t click on links – type the website into your browser’s address bar directly and then navigate through the website in order to make your deposit or purchase. Clicking on a link may take you to a third-party website that could be a scam link that allows scammers access to your computer, to your private information and to your financial data.
eMails
Players are accustomed to receiving mail from companies and casinos with which they do business but it takes a scammer only a few seconds to screenshot the logo from a legitimate casino and send their own scam email with “bonus”, “promotions”, “special games”, etc.
Therefore, be very careful when you click on a link that’s embedded in an email. Head to the casino site itself via the casino’s URL typed into your browser’s address bar and from there you can navigate to access all of the casino’s give-aways and special deals.
Passwords
It goes without saying that you should choose a strong password for your casino or company login. That password should include both upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols. It should be a password that you don’t share with any other website and that you never share with anyone else.
Many casinos also offer you the chance to choose two-factor authentication which means that you need two pieces of identification in order to log in – password + phone number. With most two-factor identification systems, after you submit your password and phone number the account sends a code to your email or smartphone with an authentication code. You enter that code into the website in order to gain access to your account.
Mitigating Damage
If you suspect that you were a victim of an online scam, contact the casino or company’s support line to report the scam and change your passwords. Contact your credit/debit card company to dispute any charges that may have been applied to your account. You might want to report your credit/debit card as stolen and get a new one.
If you feel threatened, contact your local police department.
And the, of course, to feel 100% safe, 100% of the time, just stick with SlotoCash online casino - we've got your back!
