With the sudden popularity of online betting in recent years, more and more betting sites have been surfacing lately. This trend started back in the pandemic when many brick-and-mortar betting establishments have closed, and most bettors have gone online to continue betting.
Due to this sudden popularity and many bettors still opting for online betting even as local establishments have opened, the popularity of online betting has still skyrocketed, and more and more people are opting for it instead of going to local betting stalls.
However, because of this popularity, there have also been a few bad eggs that took advantage of this fact. Nowadays, hundreds of betting scams have plagued the internet, and more and more people are falling victim to them. Luckily for you, in this article, we will discuss the most common betting scams you might want to look out for. Here are some of them.
Technical Difficulties Scam
Betting sites having technical difficulties are not unheard of. It’s quite common, and dozens of betting sites worldwide are experiencing technical difficulties. While they are common, it’s different when it’s purposefully done to scam people. This scam happens when a player opens an account, bets with their money, and tries to collect, only to be met with technical difficulties.
The player would then connect with customer support only to be told that their money isn’t accessible because of technical difficulties, and they may have to wait a long time to get their money back. Of course, this is an outright lie. They would never get their money back, and some scammers are even so bold as to tell them to try again by depositing more money in the account.
Scamdicappers
Source: scams.info
Another type of scam you can usually hear from online forums is scamdicappers. As we all know, nobody can predict the future, especially regarding horse racing. Unless they know how to see the future, they would know every outcome of every horse race they bet on. Of course, this is just fantasy, and no one has this kind of power, and that’s exactly how this scam works.
This type of scammer would tell their victims that their picks are guaranteed. They claim to do this through insider information. Some may even claim that they have foresight, which is, of course, a lie. They also take advantage of FOMO or Fear of Missing Out to give a sense of urgency. However, You have to note that if someone has insider information or foresight abilities, wouldn’t they just use that information or ability to win bets themselves?
Bonus Scams
Source: casinobonusca.com
Now, this one is quite common. Probably the most common scams there are in online betting. In online betting, bonuses are a dime a dozen. Since the market is competitive, online betting sites like casino.fanduel.com usually give out bonuses to entice more bettors to make bets on their websites.
Now, of course, these bonuses have a catch. One good example of this is free money bonuses. They will tell you that they will be given free money if you create an account with their betting site. However, you can only get that free money when you deposit a specific amount or above on your first deposit.
However, bonus scams don’t work that way. Instead of having a specific requirement for bettors to do for them to get the bonus, there’s no catch. The bonuses are most likely better than what other online betting sites offer. Too good to be true bonuses with no catch; sign me up, right? That’s where you make the mistake because, in reality, there’s no bonus.
They just want you to create an account on their online betting site, and once you make a deposit, you’ll never get the money again. Worse, you can’t call their customer support because they’ll probably be gone by the time you call them, only to resurface weeks later with another name. That said, if you think the bonuses are too good to be true, they probably are.
Betting Investment Scams
Source: zerofox.com
Another betting scam that you might want to avoid is sports investment scams. In this type of scam, scammers will look for players who have a lot of money to spend and want to profit from betting. They offer these bettors, or should we say, investors, a chance to diversify their portfolio and invest in a pool of funds, which will create profit using betting.
Of course, once the investor gives their money, it’s game over for them since they will most likely not get the money back. The funds they discuss are primarily fraudulent, most likely from people they have scammed before you.
This scam usually targets rich people like business owners, retirees, etc. Once they set their sights on someone, they will contact them through their phone number, email, or both. They often use advanced bettor terminology to lure people into wanting to invest in their scam.
That said, if you’re not sure whether a betting investment group is legit, you need to have someone from the inside to verify it for you. Or you could also just outright not invest in any betting investment group.
Malware
When scams are the topic, inevitably, the topic will soon turn into malware. Unfortunately, malware is also abundant in betting scams, and many people are still getting victimized by them. So how do they work? These scammers will post a link to a supposedly great online betting site, and once you click on it, unbeknownst to you, you’re already downloading a piece of malware.
This malware will then gather your device’s files and send them to the malware’s creator. They will then contact you to take your files hostage and only release them once you pay them a huge sum of money.
Final Words
Online betting scams are rampant nowadays, and thousands of people are becoming victims every minute. If you don’t want this happening to you, you should familiarize yourself with the most common betting scams online to be better at spotting them and saving yourself from the problems they bring. It always pays to be vigilant in your internet activities.
