Many people are concerned about online casinos taking advantage of them.  Symantec, the leading Internet security specialists, have discovered that there should be more concern about criminal taking advantage of the online casinos. 

An increasing number of phishing attacks have targeted online casinos operating in small countries.

Symantec produces the Norton brand of security software.  The company has traced a wave of e-mail con artists approaching gamblers at online casinos licensed in Antigua and the Dutch Antilles.  The wave is mentioned in the companies Internet Security Threat Report.  Symantec warns gamblers to be on guard against criminals attempting scam guests at a number of unnamed online casinos.

Phishing attacks consist of criminals attempting to trick gamblers into parting with their personal and credit card information.  The information is then used to raid accounts.  Phishing predators usually prey on victims from different countries, so they tend to employ middlemen drain funds from online bank accounts,  and then wire the money to another account using money transfers like Western Union.  Money transfers are very difficult to trace.

“In part, this is because gambling sites that use real money as opposed to free poker sites, for instance, are illegal in the United States,” said Marvin Fabuli of Symantec.

“In other countries, online gambling is legal but can only be operated out of countries that have been approved by the government such as Antigua, Costa Rica and the Dutch Antilles. In Canada, the Kahnawake native reserve is hosting online gambling despite the fact that it is illegal to do so in that country.”