Protecting yourself from scams as online sports betting launches in N.C.

RALEIGH, N.C. — If you’re a sports fan, you may have been looking forward to March 11. That’s when legalized online sports betting in North Carolina begins.

Jon Armke, the lead instructor for ethical hacking at Wake Technical Community College, said with this new addition for our state, there’s going to be a lot of visibility and a lot of people who are going to want to capitalize on the idea. So, he recommends people be aware of potential scams.

“Something that I always recommend that people do is they make sure they look at their terms and conditions,” Armke said. “What happens in case of fraud, what notifications do they send you via text message, email, phone calls, what are your contact preferences? 

Armke said anytime money is involved, be cautious that somebody might try to steal it from you.

“Just be aware that there are avenues by which somebody could send you a spam email or a phished email to try and capture your login details,” Armke said.

The instructor suggests using a pre-paid Visa gift card if you’re doing any financial transactions.

Lastly, Armke said if sites are not asking for some form of verification, be extremely careful.

If they are asking for access to your contact information, your local files, connecting to bluetooth, microphone and cameras, Armke doesn’t recommend you allow it. He also said the biggest thing to be sure of when online sports betting is making sure that whatever site you are using is approved in the state and is well regulated.

The North Carolina Lottery Commission issued eight licenses to companies allowed to operate online sportsbooks. Those include Fan Duel, BetMGM, Draftkings, Fanatics, Bet365, ESPN BET, Caesers Sportsbook, Underdog Sports and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.