The latest data on the immense underworld of illegal online betting more than documents 11 million unique bettors operating on unauthorized platforms. According to the company that brings together official lotteries across the country, it accounts for 80% of the total number of gambling fans.
The battle against “truck” sites is unceasing and seemingly endless. This week, The Provincial Institute of Lottery and Casinos of the Province (IPLyC) reported 300 “pages” that offer various gaming modalities (sports and other features) operating outside of official authorizations.
In addition to the violation due to a lack of state authorization, the representations in court also include the crimes of “illegal exploitation of gambling and alleged money laundering and tax evasion.”
By identifying web addresses and other technical tools, they attempt to identify those responsible prohibit access by minors, one of the main risks of this illegal activity.
How he could find out Clarion Three parallel cases were opened: the case involving more than 120 URLs remained in a court in Lomas de Zamora, another 120 in La Matanza and more than 50 are being heard in the courts of San Isidro.
They were all registered through the public prosecutor’s office, which is responsible for illegal gambling in each ministry. The investigative procedure is carried out in this way, as explained in the IPLyC: the public prosecutor’s offices send letters so that the police team of the Commission for the Prevention and Combating of Illegal Gambling (composed of the Legal Directorate of the Institute and the Department of Security of the Province of Buenos Aires) carries out investigative tasks. On the other hand, Cybercrime officers carry out interception and collection tasks on the IPs on which the servers operate.
“Not only is there a demand for illegal websites to be blocked, but also Identify the human subjects behind the operation. The IPs will be investigated and then they will try to find the houses, search them and arrest those responsible,” a source told the investigation.
The “secret online casinos” You work with a pyramid structure. The first link consists of “the little boxes,” the ones with the most visibility. You acquire users, sell credits and advertise in networks. Above them are administrators who manage ATM networks. It is said that one administrator can manage up to 60 ATMs.. And first and foremost are the managers, the owners of the site, who have terminals outside.
“One of the complexities of the problem is that The owners of these illegal platforms constantly change their domains to avoid controls. They host servers in tax havens such as Malta or Curaçao and operate from abroad,” they explained.
The President of the IPLyC, Gonzalo Atanasof, He presented himself as the injured person and signed the report. “We are not dealing with simple administrators of illegal sites, but with an organized criminal chain that launders money abroad, “They have certain roles, they evade taxes and operate outside the law,” Atanasof said.
The investigation arose from a cyber patrol operation carried out by agency employees, which made it possible to track the operations of these platforms and uncover their digital practices.
The particular focus of this measure by the government agency is on protecting minors’ access to these platforms. “Not everything is worth it. If we talk about it betting on teenagers, We need to tackle the problem from two fronts: mental health and safety. But gambling addiction must also be prevented Block illegal websites that are not subject to control and allow access for minors. Nowadays, children are just a click away because these illegal casinos allow them access,” Atanasof noted.
“Location-by-location reporting is not enough. We need modern tools for a modern crime. This fight cannot be waged by a single jurisdiction: there must be a coordinated national policy,” the Buenos Aires official explained.
For this reason, the organization requested that ENACOM be ordered to immediately block these websites in order to prevent their access and operation throughout the national territory.
There was a trial a little over a year ago Reports against influencers who promoted these casinos on networks. They presented it through Meta as part of the agreement with the Association of State Lotteries of Argentina (ALEA). This agreement allows you to identify and remove Facebook and Instagram profiles that promote unauthorized betting.
The fantasy names of the “secret” online gambling portals have not been disclosed. But in the IPLyC they explained that “Any website that doesn’t have .bet.ar in its domain name is a trout.” It is unauthorized, does not pay taxes and has no parental controls to prevent use by minors.
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