When you’re spending money online, you must know how to protect yourself.
This is especially true with online gaming, where you may be dropping significant amounts at a time (or, if you’re lucky, winning that!).
This is a guide to keeping your money safe while using online gaming platforms. This includes ensuring that your money is properly protected, win or lose.
It is also about ensuring that you don’t overspend available funds.
Engage with reputable Platforms
Firstly, you need to find a reputable online gaming platform or casino. If you can find a decent one that has been licensed in a reputable jurisdiction, then you’re pretty much set on the safety front. We suggest that you read through online casino reviews to get an idea of which websites are considered reputable.
Now, your cash cannot be protected 100% online. However, if you start with a reputable platform, then everything will get a whole lot easier for you. Read on and find out why!
Use Payment Methods You Can Trust
If you’re making a payment online (and this doesn’t just apply to online casinos), always make sure that the payment method you use offers some sort of protection. For example, if you use an eWallet such as PayPal, then you have the right to a refund if something goes wrong with the transaction. You may also have the right to a refund if you use a debit or credit card.
Bank accounts and cryptocurrencies? Well, good luck getting your money back if you get scammed. Only use these two payment methods if you are 100% sure that you can trust the platform.
Make sure you’re on a Secure Connection
This shouldn’t be too much of a problem if you’re using a reputable gaming platform. Part of the licensing requirements (in most countries) is that the server needs to be secure. Still, it is worth checking.
When you are logged in to an online casino or making a payment, always look at the top of the page in the address bar. You should see HTTPS:// or a padlock icon or similar before the website URL. Unfortunately, you don’t get this if you’re using an app on your mobile. However, most of the time, if an app is available then the online casino is likely to be secure, as is your connection through that app. It is also incredibly tough for people to swipe information sent via an app, anyway.
Regularly Scan your Computer for Malware
Outside of choosing the right online platform, there are a few other things that you can do to protect yourself.
For starters, make sure that you regularly scan your computer for malware and viruses. Both can easily steal your payment details. For example, some malware can read every single key that you press on your keyboard. This means that somebody could lift your payment information, passwords, etc.
We suggest that you scan your entire computer at least once per week, but you should always have a scanner running in the background just in case.
Don’t game on public Wi-Fi
Never game or gamble when connected to public Wi-Fi. In fact, you should never enter any payment details when you’re connected to public Wi-Fi. A lot of ‘hackers’ are connected to public Wi-Fi systems (particularly those in coffee shops and restaurants), and they can intercept any information sent over the connection.
In general, we tend to avoid using public Wi-Fi unless 100% necessary. If you want to gamble on the go, then use your standard mobile connection – just be careful that you don’t blow through your data allowance.
Play within the Rules
When you’re gambling at an online gaming platform, make sure that you understand the terms and conditions there. Don’t break the rules. While an online casino cannot take away the money that you deposited on their platform (unless you lost it, within the rules of the site), they can prevent you from withdrawing any winnings if you have broken their rules and they have a legitimate reason to deny you access.
For most people, though, this shouldn’t pose too much of a problem.
Establish a Bankroll
It isn’t just platform and computer security you need to be worried about. If you want to properly protect your funds online, then you’ll need to understand bankroll and bankroll management.
You never want to gamble more than you can afford to lose. So, whenever you gamble, make sure that any cash that you put on the line is cash that you can afford to do without if you do lose (and the odds are often not in your favour).
You also should avoid blowing all your cash on a single bet. After all, if you’re gambling, you probably want to do so for as long as possible!
Final Thoughts
In this day and age, it’s easier than ever to keep your money secure when gaming at online gaming sites. As long as you follow our advice about checking the reputation of an online casino, use secure websites and scan your computer regularly, you’ll be off to a good start, but being vigilant will always pay off.
