Check If a Gambling Operator is Legal

Virtual legal casinos are a profitable legit business, which has also been growing rapidly in recent years. To legally offer its gambling service, the operator must obtain an online gambling license. However, a permit to operate requires considerable financial costs, so some gambling operators prefer not to receive legal documents. As a result, scripted gambling establishments appear, playing in which is unsafe for the budget, bank details and personal data of players. Also, illegal gambling operators often do not provide proper support and customer service.

License check

The first legal thing the player needs to pay attention to is the license. It gives the operating company the right to organize legal gambling. Among the popular legal variants is the online casino license Curacao, Malta, Gibraltar, UK, Kahnawake, Antigua and Barbuda offer. Each of these jurisdictions has its own commission that checks and monitors licensing and gambling activities in accordance with existing requirements. The operator must be in the register of licensed legal providers.

Ways to check if the online gambling platform is legal

1. Scroll through all pages of the site from beginning to end to check the licensor indicating the logo and name. This item should be presented not by an inscription, but by a link that leads to the page with the document.

2. After accessing a web resource belonging to the regulator, you need to familiarize yourself with the electronic legal document in detail. It should contain information about the document number value, project name, permission type and site domain.

3. If you find a logo that you cannot click on to go to the control page, you should contact customer support. It must provide the appropriate link. If you receive a refusal, there is probably no document.

4. In addition to checking various country or region codes and permits, the online casino page must have a seal from an independent legal laboratory, for example, iTech Labs, eCOGRA, etc.

A register of licensed gambling providers can be found on the legal government websites (.gov extension) of any country you are interested in.

The security of personal funds and information is of paramount importance for an operator, which is why a good operator takes the following legal measures to protect player data and its gambling platform:

SSL or TLS encryption

Check the security measures provided by online casinos. Make sure the website uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) or Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates to protect your personal and financial information. The easiest way to check if a gambling operator is legal is to find a lock icon on the left side of the URL. Also check the measures the casino operator takes to prevent fraud and protect against unauthorized access.

Reliable deposit and withdrawal methods

To check exactly what payment methods are used at a particular online casino, simply scroll down the main page of its website. There you will find the logo of the available legal payment systems. If they are not there, go to the Payments section. These are bank cards, electronic wallets, vouchers, mobile payments, prepaid cards and so on.

Reasonable processing time

Please check the processing time for deposits’ and withdrawal requests. If depositing funds is instantaneous almost everywhere, then the time for withdrawing funds in different casinos can be different – from several hours to several days, depending on the payment system and the conditions of the online casino operator. Also, the licensed casinos use Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for additional safety. However, the processing time should be as stated on the operator’s website and should not take too long.

KYC procedure

The Know-Your-Customer procedure obliges legal operators to identify and verify the identity of each customer. Moreover, this must be done before he can conduct financial transactions. This protects legal casinos from the risk of working with scammers and terrorists and ensures the safety of customer assets.

Anti-Money Laundering tools

Measures to prevent money laundering include verifying the identity of customers (for example, ID number) by the financial service or institution and monitoring their transactions. Anti-Money Laundering (AML) software helps organizations comply with banking security laws and other financial regulations designed to prevent financial crimes locally and globally.

A good gambling operator is supposed to have games from leading software providers. And indeed, it is. The gaming library should include a variety of games, and the games should be from well-known gambling developers, as this indicates that the casino cooperates with them. And quality providers will never spoil their reputation by supplying their developments to the operators with a negative reputation in the gambling sphere.

Another indicator of the quality of an operator is the availability of free games (from poker, blackjack and roulette to slots and lottery). Each game that has the opportunity to play for real money may have a demo version from the gambling provider, which is available to players for free. This is a kind of guarantor of the gambling operator’s responsible gaming policy. Gamblers have the opportunity to play in online casinos without betting real money. Casinos where demo versions of games are not available enjoy less loyalty from gamblers.

Players must check the reputation of a gambling operator. You just need to enter a query into a search engine and you will immediately get access to a large number of online resources where gamblers leave real reviews about their experience playing in a particular online casino. These reviews describe safe games, secure payment methods and much more.

In addition to player comments, you must also pay attention to reviews published by gambling reviews’ sites. They write about current licenses, response speed and qualifications of the support service, availability of a mobile app, interesting bonuses and offers. Both reviewers and gamblers also comment on how customers’ complaints are handled. If the site doesn’t respond to customers’ requests at all or does so irresponsibly, without providing useful information, without resolving the request, this will be reflected in the published comments.

Also check whether the online casino representative responds to the player’s comment on forums and specialized sites where comments can be posted. A gambling operator with a good reputation will never ignore a comment – be it good or bad. A fraudulent gambling operator will not waste time on this.

A mandatory condition for operating a licensed casino is the presence of a technical support service. Support should work around the clock. Large platforms provide more than just live 24/7 chat to communicate with consultants. It is also possible to contact technical support via the feedback form or email. Some even have phones or social networks through which they give feedback.

Live chat, not chat bot, should work 24 hours a day, as mentioned above. The online casino’s response through other communication methods may not be instantaneous, but it is also quite prompt. If you receive late replies or fast but unhelpful replies, you may want to avoid playing on that operator’s site.

To check if a gambling operator is legal you can go to the Сontact Us section for finding what communication channels an online casino has on the official website. You can contact online casino support with questions about licensing and security measures if you were unable to find and check this information on the site pages. After receiving a response, evaluate how quickly and comprehensively the casino responds to your request.

– if the user has complaints against the operator, and the management of the gambling resource does not react in any way, the user can send a complaint against the operator to the licensee;

– the site uses only certified gambling software, so it is impossible to configure machines for the benefit of operators;

– guaranteed legal payments – each client receives money within the time limits established by the gambling operator’s regulations;

– integrity control – regulators periodically check the official websites of their “wards” for the use of counterfeit products;

– licensed operators always have favorable conditions for gambling, since these online casinos are focused on long-term cooperation with players.

If you suspect an online casino of fraudulent activity or a licensed gambling provider is offering you bets on credit, you can file a complaint with the appropriate government licensing authority. If you use the services of an offshore online casino, you can file a complaint with the regulatory authority of the jurisdiction in which the offshore online casino is licensed.