Bingo sites are everywhere you look, especially in the UK where online bingo has become an increasingly popular pasttime. There are a dazzling array of new online bingo sites popping up all the time, and it can be an aching temptation to try them all out, especially when you consider some of the seemingly outstanding promotions and opening specials so many of them seem to be offering. But the Internet is a wide open and largely unregulated space - so if you’re looking to play bingo online but you haven’t played before, how can you make sure you’ll be safe online?

In this article we’ll be taking a look at a few common sense tactics you can use to protect yourself against unscrupulous websites and unwelcome attacks by hackers.

First of all, unless you’ve got a recommendation from someone you trust impeccably, you should always do some research on a new bingo website you’re thinking of trying out - don’t just blindly go signing up to every one you see. Try googling the website’s name and see what kind of online bingo reviews come up.

Even better, find a website that does online bingo reviews that you can trust - such as bingostreet.com - that has objective reviews of the top bingo online sites out there, and see what they have to say about the site you were looking at. It’s far better to be educated than sorry.

Even if you decide to check out a new bingo online site against better advice, there are a few IT tips and tricks you can use to protect yourself. Firstly, either buy or download a good piece of antivirus software. If you want to do this on the cheap, it’s worth checking out AVG Antivirus, which offers a free version for home users.

This is a good choice because it comes with a plugin for your browser called LinkSafe that checks any links on screen against a database of known scams. If you’re heading into danger, the plugin will let you know.

Another great common sense tip is to make sure that the online bingo website respects the privacy of your personal information by encrypting it during signup. There’s an easy way to see if this is being done – simply have a look at the address being displayed in your browser’s address bar - when you sign up to play online bingo and register your details.

Normally you should see something like: http://your_website_name_here. But if the connection is being properly encrypted, it should instead have an S after the http part, so you’d see something like: https://your_website_name_here.

If you don’t see the ‘s’ then the connection isn’t being encrypted, and your personal information could be exposed to hackers.

Remember, it’s much better to visit bingo online sites you know are safe and that have been recommended to you either by a friend or by an online bingo review site you trust.