Safety and security are one of our biggest concerns in most online spheres today. With a financial activity like online betting, this is even more true. One of the biggest questions many of us have before getting started with online betting is whether these sites are truly safe. The answer isn’t as simple as a yes or no, unfortunately, as some betting sites are certainly safer than others. Today, we’re going to look at the key features of a safe betting site that you need to look out for. So, let’s get started.
1. Licensing
The most important thing to check when deciding if a betting site is safe is whether or not it is licensed by the official Gambling Commission. Currently, the UK Gambling Commission has issued licenses to well over 2,000 operators, meaning that every company on that list is operating within the regulations of the government body.
If a site is not licensed, it is operating illegally. It isn’t, therefore, bound by any of the rules laid out to protect consumers. They may be running completely unfair games or odds. Or they may just be looking to steal your money or data.
You can find a full list of licensed operators on the UKGC website. The site itself should also clearly display their certification. If the site doesn’t have this, stay away.
2. Site Security
Beyond that, though, there are certain things you can expect from the site itself. Another way sites need to keep you safe is by protecting your data, by in turn protecting their own site. Robust firewalls need to be in place in order to prevent data leaks. Every year, around 30% of medium sized businesses report attempted data breaches.
Make sure the site you are looking at has no history of such breaches. Check they have good firewalls in place to protect the integrity of their site. With your financial information being stored in the site or better yet on a service that accepts bets via PayPal, it’s vital that they are not susceptible to these sorts of attacks.
But you also need to be sure your personal account is protected too.
3. Account security
One of the most common forms of ‘hacking’ is simply finding one way or another to get past account security and access your account. This can be done in a variety of ways, like simply brute-forcing passwords until they get the right one. There are a number of ways that betting sites can keep you safe from this sort of thing.
Features like 2FA and requiring complex passwords are among the bare minimum requirements betting sites should be meeting to be fully safe. This will make it a lot harder for your account to be breached and thus your data stolen.
If the site isn’t adhering to these standards, then it is quite likely not even regulated in the first place. These requirements really are the most basic and standard.
4. User reviews
Finally, as with virtually any industry, one of the best ways to determine how safe and reliable is a site is by checking public opinion. There are many online directories like Topbettingsites of user reviews. And the biggest sites will have literally tens of thousands of reviews from users. You can use these reviews to determine if there are any common security complaints. It’ll also show anything else that may make the site less than safe. If there are many people reporting the same issue, then you should likely stay away until it is resolved.
If a site has almost no reviews anywhere, then it is a good bet that you will be taking a risk by signing up with them. It’s best to go with sites with a good deal of online discussion.
If you know what to look out for, then, you are really at virtually no risk from betting sites. The regulatory bodies do their job to ensure that the consumers remain safe. It is, at last, down to you to ensure you are betting with reputable, licensed sites; ones that aren’t operating illegally. That’s the most basic thing. Then, just be sure the site has good, robust security. This is both for its own firewalls and in terms of how it keeps your account safe in particular.
