How Scam Score works

Scam Score v0.1 (published 04 Nov 2026) rates the risk that a casino will not pay you, using its terms, licence registers and domain history.

• Score is not for sale

Scam Score measures one thing: the risk of not getting your money.

• Not in the score: design, number of games, size of a bonus, game providers, an operator's refusal to answer Scamzino, star ratings from players.
• A commission never affects a score or the order of casinos.

Until we hold enough documented payout cases, scores use terms, licence registers and domain history only (Score v0).

• Payout reliability (40 points): the lines based on complaints and on our own withdrawal test are not scored yet; until data exists they take no points off, and each dossier says how many points are not checked yet
• Clean Record needs a brand age of at least 24 months and at least 10 documented payout cases; otherwise the band is Minor Issues
• Not Enough Evidence: a brand younger than 12 months, terms not yet saved and read, or a licence for local regulated markets only

• Before the backtest, Do Not Deposit is published only for G2

• Line maxima can exceed a block cap (Transparency 17 against 15) and at crypto casinos the caps add up to 103: a block never takes more than its cap and the score never goes below 0. Weights were fixed on 10 Oct 2026
• The weights stay a hypothesis until the backtest, a test of the weights against real payout cases
• Score v0.1: the CGA register statuses Indefinite and Assessment in progress take 0 points off when the regulator's certificate page confirms the licence for the domain; the page prints the register's word and its date. The licence line takes points when the licence is not verified by two sources (3), is not linked to the domain (6), is expired, revoked or suspended (6), or when its term has passed its expiry date while the register still shows another status (1; the assessment window of an Assessment in progress licence is not a term). Before v0.1 the interim statuses took 1 point; the backtest decides whether this distinction stays
• Market norm: when a line takes its whole maximum off at 80% or more of the casinos we scored, its row carries the label “market norm” with the count, and the line is not used as a distinguishing point in the “What stands out” list of a dossier. The points stay as the weights set them. The share is recalculated on every build from the dossiers published at that time
• Withdrawal limits (P3): a limit that applies only under a condition counts at face value and the dossier prints the condition; a clause that reserves the right to limit withdrawals without a figure is not a limit and is quoted in the T&C audit; “the higher of” counts the guaranteed lower figure; EUR and GBP limits are compared at fixed v0 multipliers ($1.1 per EUR, $1.3 per GBP), not at a market rate
• Pending times are shown in the unit of the clause (hours, days or business days); where they are compared, 1 business day counts as 7/5 calendar days

• Active Payout Alert switches the button off and does not change the score

Every status names its source and date, for example "Indefinite in the CGA register dated 20 Oct 2026" or "named in the Kahnawà:ke register (list as of 23 Oct 2026)"; we use only the register's own words.

• Each source has a shelf life. When it passes, the line is marked out of date and recalculated after a new check. A licence line older than 2 times its shelf life removes the Visit button.
• Some registers publish limited data, with no domain lists or licence numbers (CGA, Anjouan, Kahnawà:ke). A negative finding never rests on one of them alone.
• If a register and a regulator's certificate page disagree, we show both.

• We save snapshots before contacting an operator.
• A verdict of Caution or lower goes to the operator at the address in its terms or licence 2 business days before publication, after the snapshots are saved; above Caution, the letter goes on the day of publication.
• Two keys: the editor approves a verdict of Caution or lower, and a fresh check of every fact a few days later confirms it before it is published.
• When we write to an operator, the page shows "Operator response requested" with the date; the reply is published next to the case without edits. We hold back only personal data of third parties and content unlawful to publish, and say on the page where we did.
• Corrections are published as Correction entries.

• A calculation is never edited: a recalculation is a new record.
• Moving a band down to Caution or lower goes through the editor.