We are using the term “fake” bookmakers here for those that you must avoid when you want to bet on sports events. It is a sad fact that there are several online bookmakers that fit into this category, so in this guide, we will explain what you need to look out for when choosing an online sportsbook.
You need to check out online bookmakers
There are some online bookmakers that deploy underhand tactics to relieve you of your money. They may have a fancy looking website and appear to be genuine but this is just a front to try and gain your trust. It’s the oldest trick in the book.
Unfortunately, there are too many horror stories of gamblers trusting these fake bookmakers and then ending up losing their money. This is not something that we want you to experience. Our expert team at AZBookmakers.com has many years of combined experience and knowledge and we can spot fake bookmakers fairly easily.
An online bookmaker may seem that they are “on the level” and the only way to verify this is to perform specific checks on them. We have a list of recommended online bookmakers below that are definitely not fake and you can choose to bet with these with complete confidence. If you prefer to check out an online bookmaker yourself then you need to check the following:
Does the bookmaker have a valid license to operate?
If an online bookmaker does not have a valid license to operate then we strongly recommend that you do not register with them and make a deposit. There are more unlicensed online bookmakers around than you may think and it is very risky for you to deal with them.
Some of these unlicensed bookmakers will say that they have a license on their website. Never just trust this to be true. You need to check with the licensing authority to see if this is true. Sometimes, an online bookmaker may have held an operating license with a gambling authority but it has now elapsed, or they may have broken the rules and had the license revoked.
Search for the official website of the licensing authority and find the online bookmaker. If they do not appear on the site then they are probably lying about having a license. You need to walk away if there is any doubt that an online bookmaker has a valid license.
Are we saying that all online bookmakers that do not have a license are fake? What we are saying is that we would never recommend that you give your money to an unlicensed bookmaker. If the bookmaker treats you badly then you do not have a licensing authority to take your case to. You will be on your own.
Legit bookmakers invest a lot of money to obtain a license to operate. They know that this is important for their members and builds trust with them. A licensed bookmaker will do everything that they can to keep their license and are more likely to treat their members fairly than unlicensed bookmakers will.
Are their transactions secure?
You do not want to use an online bookmaker that does not have adequate security arrangements in place. All financial transactions need to have end-to-end encryption using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology.
Again, don’t just believe what an online bookmaker says on their website about security. Ask the support team to verify their security arrangements and prove that they are in place. If there is any resistance to do this then find another online bookmaker.
Taking a chance with the security of your transactions with an online bookmaker is never a good idea. There is plenty of information online about this and it is not that difficult to understand. If an online bookmaker does not have adequate security arrangements in place, then they can be an easy target for hackers. You do not want to take this risk.
Check the reputation of the online bookmaker
If an online bookmaker is fake then there should be plenty of negative comments about them online. A good place to start is with active online gambling forums. Members of these forums will usually tell the truth about their experiences with online bookmakers. Find these forums and search for any online bookmaker that you are thinking about betting with.
There are websites that have blacklists of online bookmakers that have treated their members unfairly. Locate these websites and check to see if the online bookmaker you are considering appears on any of them. You want to stay clear of an online bookmaker that appears on blacklisted betting websites.
Find out how long the online bookmaker has been in business. If they are fairly new then this can be a “red flag”. There are some unscrupulous bookmakers that start up as one company, get a bad reputation and then re-emerge as another company. Of course, we are not saying that all new online bookmakers are fake. But they need time to establish their reputation.
Our recommended list of bookmakers that are not fake
We have an expert team of online gamblers here at AZBookmakers.com that review a lot of online bookmakers. The team has developed a series of tough tests and stringent checks that they use to identify fake bookmakers.
To appear on our recommended list of bookmakers that are not fake, a company has to pass all of our tests and checks. The list is small because only a small number of online bookmakers passes our checks. We take this very seriously as we only want to recommend online bookmakers to you that we no for sure are not fake.
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BetOnline.ag – BetOnline is definitely not a fake bookmaker. They have a valid license and have held this for many years. Their security arrangements are some of the best that we have seen and all of your transactions will be completely secure with them. The company has developed a very good reputation in the market for more than 20 years. This online bookmaker is one of the few that passes all of our tests and checks with flying colors.
CloudBet.com – CloudBet has not been operating for as long as BetOnline but they have been in business since 2013. Their license is valid and they are always working hard to take care of their members. You will find the very latest security technology used by CloudBet and their transactions are all secure. In addition to this, CloudBet have a first-class reputation in the business which means that they are genuine and not fake.
These online bookmakers are highly recommended by our team. When they review a bookmaker, they leave no stone unturned. You can be completely confident that any online bookmaker that appears on our recommended list is genuine and definitely not fake.
Members of our expert team spend a lot of time reviewing online bookmakers so that you do not have to do this. Don’t waste your precious time and energy trying to review these bookmakers yourself. Just choose one from our recommended list and you will not go wrong.
Final words
The truth is that there are fake bookmakers around these days. It is very important that you avoid them as they are very likely to try and take your money from you. You can perform the checks yourself but this will take a long time and you might miss something. Trust our experienced team and choose a bookmaker that is not fake from our recommended list above.
FAQ
Fake bookmakers exist to scam their members and take their money
Look for this information on their website and then check that it is true with the gambling authority
Just perform a search online for them. There should be plenty of them available
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