Untrustworthy Online Casinos – Blacklisted operators and warnings
Bonus1 doesn’t bother reviewing online casinos operating without a license or with international certifications that mean next to nothing. We have played at several dodgy gambling sites that were promoted as sound and ended up being untrustworthy down the road.
To ensure our readers’ safety, we only review and promote licensed online casinos that operate within their jurisdiction’s regulations. This way, our blacklist more or less stays empty. Properly regulated casinos are trustworthy, though they differ in other regards.
Still, this page can help you spot untrustworthy gambling sites and includes operators that failed to pass our safety and trust tests.
How we spot rogue casinos
The US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and several other countries have gambling regulations in place. A casino must meet the laws of each country it operates in to be granted a local license and legally accept players. Meeting these requirements guarantees that players are provided with responsible gambling tools and that every aspect of the casino works as intended. If a casino treats you unfairly, you can report them to the local authorities and they will take on your case.
International or overseas online casinos hold second-class licenses that are easy to obtain and don’t ensure players’ safety. Anyone can apply for such a license as long as they can cover the fee. These casinos are technically illegal in any regulated gambling market and are not bound by local laws. Playing at such casinos usually results in payment problems and lack of support, and there are no mediators to turn to when issues arise.
Online casino blacklists typically include gambling sites with second-class licenses or unlicensed casinos. Bonus1, by principle, never recommends such operators indifferently to what the public says about them. This is why our blacklist is thin.
Nonetheless, we share the usual warning signs that indicate a rogue online casino you should 100% avoid.
• Operates without a local license
• Accepts players below the minimum gambling age limit in your country
• Doesn’t enforce KYC checks until later on
• Works with obscure payment methods or only crypto
• The T&Cs include odd clauses that limit withdrawals, casino strategies, etc.
• Player reports of unpaid winnings or long delays in getting a payout request approved
• Lack of responsible gambling tools or self-exclusion policies
• Hidden owners or companies linked to rogue online casinos
I could keep going but the above should help you get the idea.
Reviewing online casinos
Our website is all about online casino bonuses. We search far and wide to find the best online casino deals. However, we don’t check the match rate or bonus size only, we look under the hood and check all of the following aspects:
• iGaming license
• Banking methods
• Registration and verification processes
• Mobile experience
• Reputation
• Game developers
• Types and number of games
• Customer services
• Payment limits and speed
• Owner
Reviewing all of the above aspects ensures we have the complete picture and then assign ratings. Our team only promotes approved online casinos that legally operate in every market. Such gambling sites also typically offer the largest bonuses with competitive rules that make your experience more pleasant. By conducting our bonus hunt in such a way, we have peace of mind knowing that you will enjoy the ride, and we won’t face problems collecting our affiliate fee.
Bonus1 blacklist
Online casinos that fail to meet our review criteria don’t necessarily end up on our blacklist. We just lower their ratings on the weak areas so that you know what to expect. For a casino to enter our blacklist, it must operate without a license, refuse to pay users, delay payouts, or have serious reports and warnings from its users.
If a casino is blacklisted, don’t even consider touching it. We won’t be able to mediate on your behalf or help you get your winnings. Examples of such gambling sites are listed below:
• Sector 777
• Digits 7
• Sunrise Slots
• Velvet Spin
• Slots of Vegas
• Crypto Loko
• Roobet
• K9Win
• ThePokies.net
We try to keep the list up to date but it isn’t complete by a longshot; there are thousands of rogue casinos on the internet. The best way to avoid them is to select approved operators from our site based on your country.
Updates on our blacklist
Our blacklist is not definitive. If a casino acquires a license or updates its terms of service to accept players from regulated jurisdictions only, we might remove them from our blacklist.
Such an example is Stake Casino, which has been creating websites for every market it operates in under local licenses. In the past, it operated pretty much everywhere with a Curacao license under a single domain.
If you own a blacklisted casino or want to appeal your case, you should reach out to us. We always do our best to stay objective, but we occasionally make mistakes. Our team will reassess your casino and your site might get unblocked.
Inform us about problems with an online casino
On the other hand, if you are a player who wants to report an online casino to us, please reach out. Your feedback could protect other players from falling prey to an operator who has wronged you.
Sharing evidence of the issues you had with the casino is paramount. Most users who fail to win at the casino claim that the site wronged them or that it treated them unfairly. In reality, losing at the casino is more likely than winning, so that’s not a metric we take into account. Having said that, we’ve seen operators who run on rigged software and host fake casino games.
In any case, your feedback is valuable to us, and we welcome contributions from the general public.
Official casino block lists
Every country has an official gambling authority in place to regulate the local industry. They hand out licenses or define the parameters of the physical and digital gambling landscapes. Most authorities also take on the role of blacklisting illegal casinos from advertising their services online. Their main weapon against illegal online casinos is ISP blocks.
How it works is the official body spots unlicensed or illegal gambling sites and reports the domains to internet service providers who in turn block access to them. This practice works in the short run, but casinos usually migrate their sites to a new domain and circumvent the ISP block. It’s a constant chase that has little effect at the end of the day, especially when you take into account the widespread use of VPNs.
Still, you should report a rogue casino to your respective authority so that they can take the necessary steps – we do the same too. One of the most comprehensive block listscan be found on the ACMA website, though other countries like South Africa, Brazil, Greece, New Zealand, and the UK are taking similar measures.
FAQs
What is a casino blacklist?
The Bonus1 casino blacklist comprises sites that are untrustworthy or rogue. It has been created to protect you from operators who will treat you unfairly or casinos that are flat-out illegal to play at.
How are casinos blacklisted?
We blacklist online casinos after carefully reviewing them. Reasons that result in casino blacklisting include operations in illegal markets, lack of license, negative user reports, unpaid winnings, and fake games.
How can you spot rogue online casinos?
Our blacklist is the best place to look for rogue online casinos. You can also check whether the casino is licensed by your country’s regulator and what other players are saying about it.
Are online casino blocks permanent?
Online casinos that change their terms of service, renew their licenses, or simply change their course of action can be unblocked by Bonus1.
Is online gambling safe?
Online gambling is safe when done in regulated and licensed casinos with protectivemeasures in place. These include SSL encryption, secure banking methods, fair and transparent T&Cs, and verification checks.