How to spot a scam - Bojoko article

[Bojoko]

Hi Bitcoin community and gambling enthusiasts!

We have recently published our newest article in Bojoko.com and it's about very interesting and very serious topic, scams. The cryptocurrency space such as the gambling industry have always had scammers, cheaters and frauds and it is difficult to stay away from these as they are becoming more and more professional. The question is, how could we avoid them?

Should we regulate more? Should we teach and educate about the risks involved? In the article we interviewed Peter Bassill who is the founder of Hedgehog Security. Peter and his company are testing online casinos and trying to break their cyber security and helping online casinos prevent any scams from happening. Article also has advice what to do, if you have been subject to an online casino scam.

Please, read the full article here: https://bojoko.com/stories/online-casino-security-and-scams/

Have you ever been scammed and what do you think should be done to prevent scams in the future?

[dantee1]

Online Casinos are already being regulated worldwide. I don't think we need any impute from a security company who may be out for their own interested rather than that of Casino companies or Casino players. Even if they finds scam, what are they gonna do about it? Do they have the power to enforce anything?

[Bojoko]

In Hedgehog case it is all about trying to improve game providers and online casinos services and improving their safety. This is directly from the article that we
recommend reading.

This sometimes means trying to hack into an online casino site to identify any vulnerabilities and report back to the operator with any improvements they can make.

Peter says that there is no such thing as unhackabale or completely secure but that on the whole, online casino sites, especially those licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, are secure.

"Most use the latest technologies to aid in the defence and go through routine and regular external security assessments with penetration testing firms.

But in the majority, they stick to the tried and tested route for security validation and rarely ask the testing firm to go all the way.

It is often a budget issue but also a lack of risk awareness on the part of the operator."

[JeromeTash]

Online Casinos are already being regulated worldwide. I don't think we need any impute from a security company who may be out for their own interested rather than that of Casino companies or Casino players. Even if they finds scam, what are they gonna do about it? Do they have the power to enforce anything?

Well finding scam and exposing it can also make a very big difference. Catching scammers and bringing them to justice is almost impossible in the crypto sphere since cryptocurrencies and not yet regulated and accepted by a number of governments, but we can help sensitive people on how to identify scam and avoid getting scammers.

Thou some people may not do due diligence before  using a service, some others who try to do background will be lucky to avoid being scammed

[Twinkledoe]

Online Casinos are already being regulated worldwide. I don't think we need any impute from a security company who may be out for their own interested rather than that of Casino companies or Casino players. Even if they finds scam, what are they gonna do about it? Do they have the power to enforce anything?

Well finding scam and exposing it can also make a very big difference. Catching scammers and bringing them to justice is almost impossible in the crypto sphere since cryptocurrencies and not yet regulated and accepted by a number of governments, but we can help sensitive people on how to identify scam and avoid getting scammers.

Thou some people may not do due diligence before  using a service, some others who try to do background will be lucky to avoid being scammed

It is a big help already by giving warning signals to all potential users of scam site. It is actually the player's responsibility to do his homework before sending any money to any website. If he was being deceived or scammed, it is his own fault if he finds later on that the site is a scrupulous one. He should do the background check at first before playing in any of them.

[STT]

 A good tip in general is to use a chrome extension to force the use of HTTPS protocol which will help stop you being dragged away to copycat sites or misled into giving away information to phishing or scam attempts.
  I read recently that chrome forms the majority of the browser market so this should be something most people can do.   Another tip that I'd personally recommend is to google the information for a site not use links given in an email so much.   If you directly request an email then fair enough but there is a danger is being receptive to random phishing attempts via email or sometimes messaging and PM might be used.    Just highlight the words of the site and google it and you will end up in the same place but via google its far safer procedure to do.    

The words to google for the extension I recommend for example is HTTPS Everywhere

If you just highlight that or even just manually type it in if you prefer and search, you will end up in the right place.  The vast majority of searches are common and repeated hence google knows what you want most of the time.
  That one also works on Firefox btw and I believe even MS edge is allowing chrome extensions in a beta version.

[goinmerry]

1) Used our common sense to determine if the gambling site is trustworthy or not.

2) Choose only the sites that already trusted by the community.

Even on regulated, licensed and trusted gambling sites, we can't erase the fact that they will not be a scam someday. But we can bet that they will not turn out like that since they don't want to waste the reputation they built or else, they will face the wrath of the law.

[AmoreJaz]

any player should do his do diligence of checking all aspects of where ever they decide to start playing.
it is your cash and what you do with it is 100% your responsibility
if anyone  sends they BTC or any other value to a website if it is a total scam or not it will and is always your responsibility !
so before trying for a new lambo...
 be careful and look up as much info as possible untill you find all the info needed to assure you that  you might have a safe place to play!
never rely on one persons reviews or thoughts. always get multi inputs before
great places to play are hard to find and those are getting even fewer by the day but they are still out there.
 if you get scammed let other know as fast as possible and let the community here also know!
word of mouth or teletype is one of the best ways  to safeguard against scammers!  
and last but should be first thing.... if it feels sketchy... just simply dont send your bitcoin and wait! it wont take long before it is ether it is validated as a solid and safe place or a scam!
better safe then sorry

[carter34]

Many times it is nice to deal with KYC sites because it gives a little kind of confidence that the site is not scam.
And for people who have been scammed, I think it is good to also let more people know about the scammers so that more people are not deceived.

[adzino]

Have you ever been scammed and what do you think should be done to prevent scams in the future?

Fortunately, as far as i remember, I only got scammed twice online. The amounts weren't big, so I didn't care much and blindly did a transaction (I shouldn't have. All I did was just encourage the scammer). The second scam was unexpected. I got scammed by a person who I have trading for months without any problem, but then the user went rouge all of a sudden.
Scams can be prevented very easily. All you have to do is be careful and before spending your money on that site, you have to make sure the site is legit. Just a quick google search will help you understand the stance of the site. If its a new site, just be cautious and don't risk out huge sum of money.
Good article by the way. Well written!

[logfiles]

A good tip in general is to use a chrome extension to force the use of HTTPS protocol which will help stop you being dragged away to copycat sites or misled into giving away information to phishing or scam attempts.
  I read recently that chrome forms the majority of the browser market so this should be something most people can do.   Another tip that I'd personally recommend is to google the information for a site not use links given in an email so much.   If you directly request an email then fair enough but there is a danger is being receptive to random phishing attempts via email or sometimes messaging and PM might be used.    Just highlight the words of the site and google it and you will end up in the same place but via google its far safer procedure to do.    

The words to google for the extension I recommend for example is HTTPS Everywhere

AFAIK, a site using HTTPs protocol does not guarantee that it won't scam you. Actually getting the HTTPs protocol on the website is pretty much cheap for the scammers.
The confidence it only gives me is that the data transmitted through the domain is encrypted and secured but if it's a scammer behind the HTTPs website, he will still scam your money.

I have busted a few gambling websites the use HTTPs before like this one: https://www.coin365bet.com
Here is the scam accusation: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5171718

Many times it is nice to deal with KYC sites because it gives a little kind of confidence that the site is not scam.
And for people who have been scammed, I think it is good to also let more people know about the scammers so that more people are not deceived.

Same here, KYC does not guarantee that they won't scam you. In fact, it will be pretty annoying if the scammer takes your money and your personal details. What a double loss it will be for you:

Here is an example of such a scenario: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5162978

[eternalgloom]

The article is basically stating that you should only gamble at licensed casinos, while in actuality there are enough reasons not to gamble at licensed casinos.
I mean, I do not want to provide KYC when I gamble, plus a lot of licensed casinos do not offer provably fair games, you basically have to trust a third party for the games to be fair.

There are enough unlicensed casinos which offer instant deposits and payouts and do not require any form of KYC to be submitted.
I think I'll stick to those...

[nakamura12]

The article is basically stating that you should only gamble at licensed casinos, while in actuality there are enough reasons not to gamble at licensed casinos.
I mean, I do not want to provide KYC when I gamble, plus a lot of licensed casinos do not offer provably fair games, you basically have to trust a third party for the games to be fair.

There are enough unlicensed casinos which offer instant deposits and payouts and do not require any form of KYC to be submitted.
I think I'll stick to those...

I choose your option rather than the op's tips or guide choosing gambling sites. Yes, I do know that https doesn't mean you won't get scam as we speak therefore I support not playing in licensed gambling sites as many people did and avoid getting your personal information stolen because of KYC. Also many people don't like doing KYC when playing at a gambling site.

[MonsterV]

Have you ever been scammed and what do you think should be done to prevent scams in the future?

I myself have ever and so are other member here, I was scammed when I first got to know bitcoin and its investments. At that time I trusted a hype site that was able to make money by only investing and then sleeping, which in the end was same as other hype scam sites.

I hope in future to reduce scammer that damage image of crypto investments, I hope that there will be a crypto investment certification institution. Where every platform that runs crypto investments must have a certification from that institution, this certification institution will indirectly be responsible for platform it houses. I think this way scammer won't dare to do it again.

The article is basically stating that you should only gamble at licensed casinos, while in actuality there are enough reasons not to gamble at licensed casinos.
I mean, I do not want to provide KYC when I gamble, plus a lot of licensed casinos do not offer provably fair games, you basically have to trust a third party for the games to be fair.

There are enough unlicensed casinos which offer instant deposits and payouts and do not require any form of KYC to be submitted.
I think I'll stick to those...

I myself agree with gambling on licensed casinos only but I do not agree that casinos must require players to do KYC, I think it would be better that casinos should have clear licenses than players because most of the cases are that fraud is more often done casino sites compared to a user.

[imstillthebest]

I myself agree with gambling on licensed casinos only but I do not agree that casinos must require players to do KYC,

even if the gambling site is licensed wont you still do a kyc ?  license is already a solid proof about how legit they are so doing a kyc is verry okay because your data's will probably kept in a safe vault and they wont use or spread it anywhere  .

I think it would be better that casinos should have clear licenses than players because most of the cases are that fraud is more often done casino sites compared to a user.

players dont need licenses to play on a gambling site , what you mean is kyc ? still a player cant scammed the casino with with or without a kyc but only the casino can potentiall scam gamblers though its still verry possible to detect a fake and legit casino

[plast555]

even if the gambling site is licensed wont you still do a kyc ?  license is already a solid proof about how legit they are so doing a kyc is verry okay because your data's will probably kept in a safe vault and they wont use or spread it anywhere  .

Perhaps it is a solid proof about how legit they are, but it will never be a guarantee that your data will be always kept in a safe place or they will not sell it. There's no way to control it.  And I don't think that there are many regular crypto users that would like to expose their real identities, even because there's plenty of them practicing gambling in countries where it's prohibited.

[el kaka22]

You do not really need to check out and see if a place is scam or not at this level really. I mean we already have a lot of websites we know and trust and we all know they are not scams at all so why would we want to go out in the untested territory and figure out if a new one is a scam or not.

First of all others do it for us and make a casino get famous, then when that casino is big we get to see how they treat their customers, if everyone looks happy and the casino has been in operation for longer than a year or two and no problems has happened with a ton of gamblers playing, then you know it is a good one. This is really the simplest solution ever, we do not need to spend our money or time to figure it out. Just go play in places like stake and you won't be scammed 100% solution.

[milewilda]

1) Used our common sense to determine if the gambling site is trustworthy or not.

2) Choose only the sites that already trusted by the community.

Basic points but the most important thing to consider on. "Common Sense" is the best weapon for you to avoid on getting scammed
but still there are dumb people just making themselves blind or doesnt care too much.

You do not really need to check out and see if a place is scam or not at this level really. I mean we already have a lot of websites we know and trust and we all know they are not scams at all so why would we want to go out in the untested territory and figure out if a new one is a scam or not.

Get used to it since there are really people who do love to test out new sites and come to think that older reputable sites do start the same in the beginning.

[adaseb]

For a new crypto person there are many crypto scams out there and its very easily to get scammed. Basically it starts with getting your BTC stolen by using Win10 and getting some virus or some cell phone SMS sim swap scam and getting your BTC stolen from your exchange.

Now since this is the gambling section I will talk about how not to get scammed with crypto gambling sites. Your best resource is this forum actually. Find the official thread for the site you want to try out and read the first main post and make sure the original poster doesn't have a red trust and read the last 5-15 pages or so and see if there are any issues with the site.

This can take anywhere from 10-45 minutes but it gives you the confidence that you won't be getting scammed by a crypto gambling site. And there are tons of shady ones out there already.

[RivAngE]

Some people are saying that we should only use services with licenses, but how easy is it to confirm the authenticity of a license?
Everyone can say that they own a license, if they are scammers who are planning to disappear anyway, one or two more lies won't matter to them.

So our only weapon is the community... we have review sites, discussion forums like this and ofcourse Mr. Google.
Just consider that whatever the service provider can't be trusted and try to find unbiased comments about them.