Risks and Dangers of Online Gambling
Online casinos have a much lower operating cost and also offer higher accessibility for players, which is why they’ve become a popular substitute for traditional land-based casinos. But even they come with their own set of pros and cons. While they do make gambling a lot easier, sometimes it may also mean that there’s a higher risk involved, as compared to a brick-and-mortar casino. This article takes an in-depth look into any risks and dangers that you can expect in online gambling, while also suggesting a few ways you can keep yourself safe from the risks. It’s a difficult and tricky world out there, but with the right strategies, you can keep your online presence protected from any potential harm.
Key Takeaways:
- Online gambling poses many dangers, such as gambling addiction, fraudulent activity, and information scams.
- The risks can be avoided by only interacting with authentic and licensed providers.
- There are several security layers that bettors can use to protect their identity online.
What’s Popular in Online Gambling?
Before we jump into the dangers of online casino sites, let’s take a quick look at the categories that are most popular in online gambling. Here are just some of them:
- Slots
- Blackjack
- Poker
- Baccarat
- Roulette
- Horse betting
- Football betting
- Lottery
- Basketball betting
- Hockey betting
- Rugby betting
Dangers of Online Gambling
Here are some of the biggest and most common risks that online gambling poses to bettors and punters:
Impulsive Gambling
Online gambling has made betting a lot more accessible than traditional casinos because people don’t need to leave their homes anymore. However, because placing a bet is now always just a click away, it can lead to higher chances of impulsive gambling.
There are no logistical costs stopping you from entering a casino anymore. All you need to do is tap on your phone and you can begin placing your bets in no time. This convenience means that you might find yourself having the urge to bet much more frequently.
This may lead to you making rash financial decisions as well since you don’t even need cash on hand to bet at an online casino. Because all online casinos take digital payment options, you may lose track of how much you’re spending. This could especially be true if your chosen payment method is a credit card because then you could be spending money you don’t even have right now.
Gambling Addictions
When impulsive gambling becomes a consistent issue, it can even develop into a gambling disorder or a gambling addiction. Online gambling might also be a lot quicker than conventional land-based casinos, which can make them quite addictive.
Some studies have even shown that online gambling might actually be more addictive than traditional casino gambling, mainly because of its accessibility and convenience. The bottom line is that online gambling does pose a serious enough risk of addiction for us to consider it an active danger.
However, a good thing about online casinos is that they offer the option to set limits on the amount of money you deposit, the number of hours you play at the casino, and the amount of money you can wager. Thus, bettors who might be at risk of developing an addiction can use these limits to set boundaries for themselves.
Social Isolation
Gambling, when done in a brick-and-mortar casino, is a highly social activity. Whether you’re betting on the poker table or placing a wager on your favorite horse, there’s a thrill in doing it surrounded by individuals who are just as competitive as you.
However, gambling online can be quite isolating because it takes away the entire social element of the game. Instead of socializing over a friendly game of poker, people are just locked away in their homes playing game after game.
This is quite dangerous for problem gamblers because their peers might not be able to recognize that they’re spending too much time gambling. In a way, online gambling tends to conceal how many hours we spend betting at the casino.
Financial Losses
We’ve already discussed how the absence of cash may cause you to spend more money than you planned to, but there's another aspect to the financial losses that online casinos may cause. A lot of online casinos offer frequent promotions, many of which come with high wagering requirements.
The promise of something free, no matter how little, is often enough to get people to bet huge sums of money. By the time you fulfill the wagering requirements, you may have lost a lot more money than you would actually gain with the bonus. However, the shiny bonus deals often succeed at distracting the players from this fact.
There’s also no denying that online gambling feels a lot more fast-paced than regular casino betting, which might cause higher adrenaline surges. This can also cause people to spend more money than intended, eventually losing out on their bucks as well.
Unlicensed Platforms
Platforms that haven’t been licensed by a proper authority do not adhere to the gambling rules and regulations that online casinos should follow. This can create a ton of problems for any bettors who might be using that platform.
For starters, unregulated platforms can offer games that are rigged or have unfair odds, which could financially jeopardize the bettors. Furthermore, they could also run scams to rob players of the money in their casino wallets.
It is also tricky to resolve such disputes with unlicensed casinos because they do not fall under the same regulations that licensed casinos do. This is why it’s better to be wary of unregulated platforms yourself, just so you don’t end up falling into any issues.
Not Getting Paid
People often worry that they might not end up getting paid by an online casino, and there is some risk of that occurrence. This is mainly because there are several layers between you and your payment from an online casino.
Often, there could be legitimate issues on the end of your payment service provider. Other times, it is possible that scamming casinos might skip out on paying you your due share of money.
This concern is also best avoided by only playing with casinos that display their gambling license out in the open. This way, you can hold the casino accountable with the licensing authority in case they try to pull a scam on you.
Hoarding In-Game Purchases
The biggest issue with online casinos is that they offer bettors a ton of avenues to spend their money, even apart from direct betting. There are so many in-app or in-game purchases that people can spend their money on, and it can often get hard to keep track of things.
These purchases may often be cheap in isolation, but when a bunch of them are racked up together, it can amount to a considerable sum of money. This is why online gambling tends to be problematic; it can be difficult to notice when and where you’re losing your precious money.
Fraudulent Activity
Just as with other digital platforms, online casinos may pose a danger of fraudulent activity. Certain unregulated gambling websites exist only to steal people’s personal and financial data. Because bettors usually input all this information while registering for a casino account, they put their data in the scammer’s hands themselves.
Sometimes, this fraudulent activity may happen not through the casino website itself but through external hackers or through the provider whose payment service you’re utilizing. This means that there are several fronts on which you could lose your information on money, so it’s absolutely necessary to be careful.
Only register with casino sites that you know are legit. Furthermore, try to only use reputable payment providers which are commonly used in other places as well. These include debit card options such as Mastercard and Visa, and e-wallet options such as Skrill.
Malware and Viruses
In the attempt to find the cheapest casino, you might accidentally register at a site that installs spyware into your device. When this happens, all of your personal data will be at risk of getting accessed by hackers.
This is a bigger problem for individuals who are not very tech-savvy and might be gambling online for the first time. Thus, we don’t recommend that players start betting with just any site that they come across. It’s always important to ensure the safety of your chosen casino.
Emotional Betting
Online sports betting gives players the option to bet live during the games. However, in games with more thrilling matches, such as football or basketball, players might make emotional decisions while the match is going on.
Thus, in-game betting is especially prone to being driven by emotions, which might lead to players making choices that they would not have made otherwise. When bets are placed in this manner, they come with a higher risk because there’s a level of irrationality attached to them.
How to Protect Yourself When Gambling Online
Even though we have discussed the many dangers of gambling online, there are also several ways that players can protect themselves in the digital arena. All it takes is some care and strategy, so you don’t have to get your money stolen every time you bet online. Here are some of our top tips for staying safe in the digital casino space:
Do not gamble when you’re emotional
This is a tried-and-tested tip to prevent problem gambling, and it also works for online betting. The thing about online casinos is that they’re easier to access when you’re feeling emotional or worked up. It’s not like you need to walk to a casino somewhere; all you need to do is unlock your phone and log into the casino website or app.
This means that every time you’re feeling upset or distressed in any way, you’ll find it much easier to satisfy your gambling urges. This is why online gambling requires much more self-control than conventional casinos.
Only gamble at websites that display their gambling license properly
It’s not enough for a website to mention that they have a gambling license, it must be displayed on their website. If the license is difficult to locate, outdated, or blurry, these are all signs that the casino might not be up-to-date with its regulation requirements. It’s even possible that the license might be fake.
In order to avoid any sort of scams happening to you at your online casino, it’s best for you to look for the license and properly go through it to make sure that it looks authentic. It’s even better if the casino is licensed by a well-known licensing authority, such as Curacao or Malta.
Protect your identity
Once you’re in the digital space, it’s in your hands to keep your identity safe and protected. Look for casinos that don’t require excessively personal information, such as your social security number. Furthermore, don’t add information other than what’s absolutely required. For example, if the casino does not require you to upload your photo, it’s best to leave it blank.
Online casinos also have live chats and chat rooms, where you can get in touch with the casino’s team or even other players. Be sure not to share your personal information in these chat boxes with either of the two parties. When you cannot track where your data is going, it can be misused for any purpose.
Use strong passwords and two-step authentication
This is a great way of making sure that your account is difficult to access for anyone who’s trying to hack into it. With a two-step authentication process, the hacker would need to access not just your casino account but also the device you need to authenticate your login. This would make it much more difficult for them to steal any information or money from your account.
Utilize the limits the casino website offers you
By setting deposit limits, session limits, and wager limits for yourself, you’ll ensure that you don’t go overboard with your gambling activities. These online tools exist to help people gamble responsibly, so you must make adequate use of them, in order to keep any problems from occurring.
Only use secure and trustworthy payment methods
Your money is the most important part of your online gambling experience, so make sure to keep it protected by only using payment methods that are reputable and trustworthy. For example, there are a ton of e-wallets in the market today, but not all of them exhibit the same level of safety.
Online casinos have also started offering cryptocurrency payments now, but this method is not for experimenting. Only choose to go ahead with this option if you’ve already dealt with crypto payments and are aware of how it works.
In a Nutshell
Online gambling comes with its disadvantages and dangers, but these can be avoided through appropriate and adequate safety measures. There is always a risk attached to any activity you undertake in the digital space because scams are everywhere. However, at the end of the day, it is on you to keep yourself protected by being smart about your online presence and staying aware of fraudulent activities.
