In this article we will talk about the main scams that can occur in online betting sites and how to protect yourself with a precious tool that is the ADM license.
The turnover of online betting, before the pandemic, was around 10-12 billion euros a year in our country alone. Mind-boggling numbers that in many cases double those of bets in betting shops. Given this huge turnover, it is natural that there are several bad guys interested in getting a small slice of the business illegally. Furthermore, thanks to the web, criminals are more difficult to trace and are more easily able to capture the attention of victims. In this article we will explain some of the most popular online betting scams and the importance of verifying the ADM license.
Online betting scams
With the advent of online betting sites and social media, it has rediscovered and reinvented itself the art of predictions. Self-styled oracles, often with fake profiles on social media or other websites, boast of being able to give the results of the matches in advance. These criminals come up with very credible stories, such as the existence of a system to fix the games, which penetrate the brains of the bettors. There are also several methods. the most famous is perhaps the method 9-3-1. A game can have three outcomes (1, x or 2). Well, after receiving a payment, the scammers send prediction 1 to 30% of the victims, prediction x to another 30% and result 2 to the remaining ones. Once the result is known, they block the victims who have lost the bet. , collecting only positive comments.
Another method is that of “betting broker“. These are people who collect users’ money and then bet it in a way that maximizes profit and promises very high returns. Thanks to the Betting Exchange mechanism, these characters managed to steal even thousands of euros from bettors because they proved – with false data of course – that they had managed to win large sums in the past. The same can happen for a website: by pretending to be a serious betting site, it can take a lot of money away from unsuspecting users who bet their money, perhaps offering very advantageous conditions such as high no deposit betting bonuses.
Some illegal betting sites try different ways to scam bettors, luring them first with easy wins and then dragging them into a vicious circle which makes you lose a lot of money. Fake, strange or totally piloted events are often used to maximize the house’s earnings at the expense of bettors. There are such advanced strategies that balance piloted wins and losses in a way that makes everything seem normal in the eyes of the players, making them win from time to time, and without letting them realize that they are losing a lot of money in the long term.
Another way used in online betting scams is related to payment systems. In fact, some sites that want to scam users could use lines that are perfectly in order, but delay or cancel the payments of won bets or block the withdrawal from their account for trivial reasons or even without explanation.
ADM license: a guarantee?
Luckily there are ways to protect yourself and to choose a reputable betting site. As is well known, in Italy the gambling world is under the jurisdiction of the Excise, Monopoly and Customs agency for the ADM license on games. This large government organization aims to regulate and supervise bookmakers in Italy. In particular issues the ADM license that is a number that certifies the approval of ADM and therefore the permission to operate in the gambling sector. You may have seen signs of the type “Concession N ° xxxxx” near the agency symbol. This is the first thing to check before using an online betting site. In fact, obtaining an ADM license is very complex because safety and transparency must be demonstrated.
But why the ADM license is considered a necessary and sufficient condition to consider a reliable betting site? To answer, you need to know broadly what are the checks carried out by the government agency. It comes first checked the entire organization chart of the company to ensure that all collaborators do not have a criminal record related to fraud, money laundering or other crimes. Then we move on to control of the IT platform. We check that the algorithms are fair and respect the rules and standards imposed by law. For example, the RTP (Return to Player – Return to Player) is evaluated, that is the percentage of the proceeds that is then reused to make up the prize pools. By law at least 90% of the revenues must be converted into prize money and only 10% can remain as actual earnings. They come then checked the algorithms that manage the quotas for betting or random number generators for online casinos. The mechanisms for preventing gambling addiction are also checked, such as the section dedicated to Responsible Gaming, which contains useful information on how to prevent and recognize this problem.
The betting sites that have obtained the license display the logo of the state monopolies and above all the license number. However, some scam websites may display fake logos and numbers. This is obviously prohibited by law, but how can we users know? Before using these websites it is worthwhile double check on the official ADM website which shows the list of all the companies that have obtained the concession. After this check you will have no more doubts. We invite you to always choose the best online betting sites in order to avoid scams.
That’s all from the web and social section, keep following us!