Gambling sites are no exception. By maintaining a sustained visible presence, site operators increase their credibility within the online community. Competitors, posing as players, will flame each other in the newsgroups. Security is a major concern for anyone wishing to spend money in cyberspace. In actual fact it is far safer to spend online than in real-time.
People tend to fear giving their credit card number out over the Internet to some unknown entity.
Revealing credit card numbers to gas station attendants, restaurant waiters, and over the telephone is infinitely less secure than on the Net. Moreover, reputable sites employ sophisticated encryption algorithms making online transactions nearly invulnerable to cracking. Today's Internet is much like Dodge City in the Wild West of legend, less Marshall Wyatt Earp. It is still largely a frontier, complete with pioneers-and villains. Attempts at regulating or blocking Internet gambling are ongoing.