The Philippines cautions against illegal gambling sites

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has issued a warning about the growing number of illegal gambling websites that are targeting the country’s citizens. The websites in question have been misusing the regulator-cum-operator’s seal of approval without its permission and are misleading the public to believe that players are joining a website that has been licensed by the authority, when this is not the case.

Responding to the newly presented challenge, PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro H. Tengcourged the public to be wary of such fraudulent operations and reminded anyone interested in playing at online casinos to always verify the licensure of said property. This has to do with the fact that websites that claim to be licensed but aren’t usually have much poorer consumer protection standards and may threaten a person’s financial and personal information.

"So far, we have been able to shut down most of these illicit websites, but some of them are able to immediately create new ones so we really need the public’s cooperation and vigilance to help us weed out these scammers," H. Tengco explained, adding that PAGCOR has already been in touch with the Philippine NationalPolice, National Bureau of Investigation, and other divisions of law enforcement that can help track down the websites and limit their access and exposure on the market.

Among the measures now being deployed against these websites is the blocking of certain payment methods and seeking to suspend the websites with the help of internet service providers (ISPs). Although efficient, these measures do pose their unique challenges, as suspending entire payment systems or access to certain domains could have wider and sometimes adverse consequences.

Another, less restrictive measure, is to create a landing page instead, where consumers will be warned that the site, they are visiting is illegal and that they are advised to not proceed. All of these measures have been deployed safely and efficiently across the world. To achieve true and lasting impact though, PAGCOR and the government would have to take consistent steps that allow them to stay on top.

For their part, fraudulent websites usually launch mirror domains to continue targeting consumers, just like they have been doing in Australia, where local regulators have suspended hundreds of websites and continue to work on suspending hundreds more.

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