How to Verify a Malta Gambling License in the Right Way
Malta gaming authority is a very decent regulatory body, especially when it comes to resolving players complaints. Hence, if you pick an online casino licensed there, the chances are high you won’t experience any issues (though rarely it can occur even here, so reputation of a particular online casino still matters).
On the other hand, the online gambling industry is saturated with all sorts of crooks and frauds. It is not a surprise that such individuals would try to take an advantage and forge a Malta gambling license. Therefore, you have to verify that an online casino claiming to have the license actually has it.
Malta gaming authority provide casino players with a convenient online service so that we can verify its license on the official website. There are two methods available:
You can verify a casino’s license either by its name
Or by URL (or domain name to be more specific)
The procedure does not look too complicated and it is not. Though I am going to teach you how to perform it in the right way, otherwise it can produce false positives. I don’t want to over dramatize since the Malta license is not getting forged too often, but I guess nobody would like to take chances.
With that being said, let’s learn:
Why verification by URL is the only 100% reliable way to check Malta gambling license,
4 easy steps (with screenshots) on how to do so,
Why verification by simply clicking on a license seal is not 100% reliable.
What’s the only reliable way to verify Malta license
As I have mentioned earlier, you can verify a Malta gambling license either by name or URL. Verification by name can be misleading, because fake Malta licensed casinos can easily copycat legit websites so that their names are going to match.
So to say, we are left with the only option, which is verification by URL (domain name), and the good news is it is 100% reliable. Let me explain how it works, and you are also going to understand better why verification by name can not be trusted.
Every website on the internet has its own unique address that is called domain name. Domain names are assigned to entities by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The cool thing about domain names is that it is impossible to forge them. On the other hand every website on the internet can be easily forged (every web developer will confirm it).
How do scammers take advantage? Let’s say there is some legit online casino licensed by Malta. Scammers do copy the whole website (so that the names also match, that’s why this method is not reliable), but they can not fake the domain name (of the original casino website). Instead they assign the fake website to a very similar domain name (often just 1 symbol is different). They bet players won’t tell the difference, and many people actually do not.
For example, legit domain name of an online casino licensed by Malta: https://www.n1casino.com
Possible fakes: https://www.n1-casino.com https://www.n1casinos.com https://www.n1casino.org
Now you can see that every symbol in a domain name matters. Even such a slight change makes it a completely new domain name that has nothing to do with the original one.
Well, let’s move to the point and go through 4 steps. I will show you how to avoid scammers with 100% confidence (I have not yet come across a guide that covers this super important aspect of the verification properly).
Step 1: Establish URL of an online casino
First thing first, visit an online casino’s website you are verifying to find out what its domain name says.
The domain name can be easily accessed on the top of each web browser. As it is shown on the picture below.
Copy a part of the domain name which is bold (I will explain why further in the article). In our case it is: n1casino.com
As I have mentioned earlier, your web browser always shows you the true domain name you are currently on. Also it emphasizes with bold the important part of a domain name. The only thing scammers can do is to change some symbols (basically they register a completely new domain name).
Step 2: Visit the official website of Malta gaming authority
Here is the license verification section: https://www.mga.org.mt/mgalicenseeregister
We are going to work with the URL box.
Step 3: Enter the URL into the search box
Paste the domain name (from step 1) into the URL search box.
You can see that we have got a match. It is already a good sign though we are not done yet.
By the way that’s what it would look like if the domain name were fake (I have entered, for example, n1-casino.com).
It says “No results found”, which basically means that the license for this particular domain name (casino website) does not exist.
Please keep in mind. A domain name consists of some parts. We have to match the only two important parts, which are hostname (n1casino in our example) and domain label (.com in our case). That’s why web browsers make these parts bold.
Other parts do not matter for verification purposes. So to speak, https://www.n1casino.com http://www.n1casino.com https://n1casino.com http://n1casino.com are exactly identical and legit since the core (hostname plus domain label) matches.
Hence don’t be afraid. If the bold part is in the Malta register list, you are good to go.
Step 4: Go through the license details
Then press the search button, and the record devoted to this particular casino is going to be displayed to you.
Simply click on the record if you would like to get the information pertaining to the casino’s license.
Now the verification is finished since we can see that the license is valid (it is said “licensed”, which means it is not suspended for instance). You can safely play in the casino and enjoy the protection of Malta gaming authority.
What about a Malta license seal that can be found on the bottom of a casino’s website
It is a very cool verification method in general (you just have to click on it) if it is done properly. Because there is also some room for forgery. Very similar to how a casino's website can be faked, the verifier website of Malta gaming authority can also be forged.
Therefore, once you have been redirected to the verification webpage, you must verify that the domain name contains exactly this record: mga.org.mt (which is made bold by your web browser).
This is a 100% guarantee you are on the official government website, not a fake one.
Conclusion
Top online casinos licensed by Malta gaming authority
It is especially important to verify any gambling license if you use cryptocurrencies as a payment method. Why? Because contrary to classic payment methods, crypto payments are not reversible. You can not go to your bank and ask to cancel a transaction in the crypto world (there are simply no centralised bodies which could do it).
Hence, please do not neglect verification. It does not take much time, only 1 minute once you are familiar with the procedure. Very easy and straightforward.
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