With literally thousands of online casinos on the internet, it can sometimes become very confusing as to which ones are safe and reputable, and which casinos are not. So many of them are beautifully designed, look very professional and offer great signup bonuses, so how does one go about choosing the "reputable" online casinos while avoiding the "dodgy" ones? 

When choosing an online casino to play at, one should always take into consideration the following points: 

Licensed casino 

Is the casino licensed? While many online casinos are licensed, a significant number of casinos are not. There are plenty of unlicensed, illegal gambling casinos which are nothing more than money scam operations. One should always avoid these casinos at all costs. 

Where is the casino licensed? 

While online casinos licensed in Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Kahnawake, Netherlands Antilles, United Kingdom and the West Indies are recommended, online casinos licensed in Eastern Europe should be approached with extreme caution. 

24/7 Support 

Does the casino offer 24/7 phone, fax, live chat and email support? Test the casino's customer service department by asking them a few questions about their games, bonuses, etc and measure how long it takes to receive a decent response. 

Professional Recogition 

Is the online casino officially recognised by various gaming bodies and authorities? For instance, are the payout percentages of the online casino independently reviewed by auditors such as PricewaterhouseCoopers? Is this information made publicly available? 

Blacklisted 

Is the online casino blacklisted for any reason? There are many casinos which have been blacklisted by several gambling portals for one reason or another. Although not all blacklists are credible sources of information, one should avoid online casinos which appear in several blacklists. 

Software 

Casino software providers such as iGlobalMedia, Microgaming, Playtech, Random Logic, Real Time Gaming and WaterLogic are very popular and have excellent reputations in the online gambling industry. 

With so many online casinos coming and going, and with so many cons and scams surfacing on the internet everyday, one needs to be especially careful when registering one's credit card with or transferring money to an online casino. The above set of guidelines may not completely safeguard the player, but they are nevertheless a good set of common sense points to go by when choosing an online casino to play at.

New computer viruses threaten the unwary user everyday. Hackers 
jeopardize your online security with invasive computer techniques to 
steal your passwords, personal information, even identity. 

Unscrupulous marketers bait you with free software that unleashes 
spyware, trojans, or worms, on your system. 

While other marketers bombard you with popups at every turn. And 
others send unsolicited spy emails asking you to click links to unsafe websites that install threating software on your computer, or try to download your private information. 

These are only a few of the security issues involved while online. 

Read through the following list to arm your computer and protect yourself against these vicious and often malicious online attacks. 


1. Install a good anti-virus software. 
Here's a good free anti-virus software... 
Fr** AVG Anti-Virus...... 
New - AVG Fr** Edition is now available for all single home users 
worldwide! More detailed information can be found in the AVG Free 
Edition License Agreement. 
Click Here To Download: 
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php 


2. Install a personal firewall. 
This personal firewall is one of the best online.... 
http://www.zonealarm.com 

3. Install a good pop up blocker. 
Google has a free pop up blocker so does Yahoo. The only drawback 
is you will have to download and install their toolbar. 

4. Know Privacy Policy. 
Read the websites privacy policy before releasing personal information. 
Note do they share or sell your information with third parties. If they do you might reconsider releasing your personal information. 

5. Passwords. 
Never use easy to guess passwords like your favorite color, your social security number, your birthdate, words less than six characters. Mix up passwords with combinations of numbers and symbols. 

6.Virus Warnings. 
Don't forward virus warnings you receive in emails. It's not your 
job to warn others. And you might be circulating a fake warning 
designed to scare receivers into downloading trojans or removing 
important files on their computer. 

7. Keep It Secret. 
Don't give your password to anyone. Be wary of emails asking you to give out your personal passwords for accounts online. Or emails asking you to click a link and enter your password on the site. This site might be a fake sent by hackers "phishing" for victims. 

8. Primary Email Address. 
Don't divulge your primary email address on unfamiliar sites. You 
might be bombarded with unsolicited emails by marketers who 
sell your address to third parties online. 

9. Free Accounts 
Set up several free email accounts with a psuedo name to handle 
spam, when you register with unfamiliar sites, or to use on chat and message boards. 

10. Chat Line And Message Board Warnings. 
Don't release personal information on chat lines or 
message boards. This is one way many identity thefts occur.