Many sports fans go beyond simply cheering for their team—they also back them with a wager. Whether it’s about loyalty or adding excitement to the match, betting remains a common way to show support.
For this reason, sports betting has become increasingly popular and, aside from the lottery, is the most popular way people gamble internationally. If you’re new to sports betting or only do it occasionally, the fast-paced industry may feel a bit overwhelming, particularly if your money is at stake.
To address these concerns, we’ve developed this guide on keeping your money safe when placing sports wagers online. We’ll cover the best tips for keeping your money safe so that the only thing you’ll have to worry about is your team or player winning.
Legal vs. Offshore Gambling
One of the first and most important tips is to ensure that you’re placing wagers with a reputable, licensed sportsbook. In Singapore, for example, any operator claiming to be legal should have a license issued by the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA). This is because, due to the Gambling Control Act, betting with any unlicensed operator is illegal.
While this means that unlicensed operators within Singapore are illegal, offshore operators don’t hold offices within the region and, therefore, work in a legal grey area. As such, it is neither permissible nor prohibited to place wagers with them.
Despite these sites not being expressly illegal, gambling on them may leave you with little recourse should something ever go amiss. This is because they fall outside the jurisdiction of the GRA, which, within Singapore, ensures that operators are vetted and that complaints from players are investigated.
Irrespective of whether you choose to place sports bets with a local bookmaker or an offshore operator, the most fundamental safety measure is to verify if they are officially licensed. For offshore platforms, only licenses issued by reputable regulatory bodies, like the UK Gambling Commission or the Malta Gaming Authority, should be trusted.
Should a website not have a license or display one that cannot be verified on the issuing governing body’s official website, it is best to avoid it entirely. Failure to do so could result in you falling prey to a scam bookmaker.
Digital Safety Basics
Aside from ensuring your chosen operator is licensed and reputable, there are a handful of digital safety practices that you should keep in mind. These are common safety tips that are often overlooked due to the routine nature of using or registering for new online services.
Use Strong Passwords
Although one of the simplest ways to remain secure online, many of us forget to use a password that is complex enough to make it challenging to hack. Instead, we often reuse passwords from other accounts or create passwords that are easy to guess.
Top tips for creating a secure password include ensuring that it is between 12 and 15 characters long and makes use of uppercase and lowercase letters, symbols, and numbers. You should also have a unique password for your sports betting account, which you can save in a password manager if you are worried you might forget it.
Multi-Factor Authentication
Whether requiring approval via an authenticator app or a one-time password sent to your email or smartphone, multi-factor authentication is one of the best ways to ensure your account remains secure. Having MFA enabled is particularly important if you think your password may be compromised or if you’ve used a password that may be easily guessed.
Avoid Public Wi-Fi
One of the greatest conveniences of online sports betting is that wagers can often be placed using your smartphone or laptop, regardless of your location. However, placing bets should never be done using a public Wi-Fi network, even if you’re watching a sports event in a public streaming location and are using the Wi-Fi to stream odds and betting data.
These networks are inherently insecure, and your information, such as your credentials for your player account, may be intercepted. Therefore, if you have no option but to use public Wi-Fi, only do so if you have a reputable VPN through which you can route your traffic to ensure it remains secure.
Payments and Withdrawals
Among the most significant risks of gambling online is having your payment information intercepted or not receiving the withdrawal of your money if you win. As such, you should pay careful attention to both the supported payment methods a bookmaker offers and its withdrawal policy.
Supported Payment Methods
Most reputable sports betting platforms provide safe payment options for players like Visa, Mastercard, PayNow, and a variety of other e-wallets. Support for these popular payment options shows that the operator has passed each processor’s security checks and is deemed trustworthy enough to allow the processor to handle its transactions.
Because any bookmaker needs to pass specific checks for most reputable payment processors to partner with them, any platform that makes use of unknown payment methods should be avoided. Instead, it may be best to find a platform with more commonly accepted payment methods.
Withdrawal Policy
The withdrawal policy of a sports betting website outlines numerous important terms and conditions, such as any applicable withdrawal fees, potential limits, available methods, and expected withdrawal processing times.
In many cases, the withdrawal policies are overlooked. However, not reading through your chosen bookmaker’s policy could leave you subject to unnecessarily long waiting periods, limits that don’t allow you to withdraw all your winnings, or even hold you liable for excessive fees.
Most reputable sportsbooks have reasonable clauses relating to withdrawal methods, times, and limits. If a platform you find does not offer these, it may be best to seek an alternative operator.
Conclusion
Keeping your money safe when placing sports bets online can be a simple process of due diligence and following basic security practices. If you follow the tips above, you will be able to recognise any questionable platforms and steer clear of them to protect your money.
While these steps are straightforward, the online landscape is always changing. Therefore, constant vigilance over things such as adjustments to withdrawal policies, supported payment methods, and legal status is always recommended.
