Washington tribes alarmed over impersonating illegal gambling adds

Washington State residents have been targeted by illegal gambling ads on social media, impersonating tribal casinos. These ads are not genuine promotional efforts by regulated casinos, however, but rather concocted by bad actors who have misappropriated the tribes’ gaming assets and have used them to mislead unsuspecting residents into losing money.

Fraudsters create fake Washington online casino ads

Although Washington State hosts land-based tribal casinos, the jurisdiction has not launched an online casino framework. In other words, not only are these bad actors misappropriating intellectual property – they are similarly lying to customers who may be led to believe that online casinos are now regulated in the Evergreen State.

The ads are crafty as they convey a very close similarity to what a regulated product would look like, brazenly featuring the regulator’s logo, the Washington State Gambling Commission, as well as the tribes’ own signature visual identity.

In an interview outlining the case for Casino Reports, a respected industry publication, 7 Cedars Casino in Sequim CEO Jerry Allen highlighted the matter, arguing that the transgression has been afoot for at least a month.

Allen outlined how fraud was perpetuated, using social media platforms, and specifically Instagram as an amplifier for their reach. Fraudulent casino apps have been proliferating on the Internet.

Fake apps and casinos target people and properties all the time

MrBeast, a YouTube creator, has been often the victim of such attempts, with a MrBeast casino app being fraudulently pushed onto unsuspecting fans. There have been also instances of MrBeast-branded casinos, but they are illegitimate.

MrBeast has been known to frequent Las Vegas, and recently, the creator announced a new partnership with Resorts World Las Vegas for the fittingly called "MrBeast Experience." Regardless of how prominent a casino or a personality is, people still get taken in by such schemes.

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