-
Casinos for you
Philippines Warns Against Influx of Unlicensed Online Casinos
By Shane Addinall Sep 18, 2023 IndustryPAGCOR warns Filipino gamblers about fake licensed casinos and explores several ways to stop illegal operators from targeting local players with harmful advertising, including partnering with the public, the police and payment processors.As with anything successful in life, there will be those who work to expand and support its success and those who would look to abuse it for their own gain. This has been the exact experience of the regulated online gambling industry in the Philippines.
The Filipino government's recognition of the iGaming industry's value to the country has made it very pro-gambling. While this has been great for players and legitimate online casino operators, it has encouraged black market gambling sites to seek to carve out a portion of their profits for themselves.
Black Market Casinos Play Pretend
Unlike other markets where players often don't care about too much playing at illegal casinos as long as the casino bonuses are big enough, Filipino players are loyal to locally licensed sites. These predatory operators pretend to be approved to circumvent this desire to play at regulated sites.
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) released a nationwide statement warning local punters not to gamble online with sites bearing the old logo. However, they have now reported several illegal casinos are also sporting the gambling authority’s current red and blue motif.
A proposed solution is for PAGCOR to launch an official online resource that explains the risks of gambling at unlicensed venues and how to determine if PAGCOR licenses the site you're on or is faking its approval.
PAGCOR Continues to Fight Back
One of the added benefits of the country’s acceptance of online gambling is that PAGCOR is able to effortlessly rally assistance from the public and other government departments in its fight against illicit gambling advertisements.
Alejandro Tengco, PAGCOR Chairman and CEO, said:
Quote“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.”
Further adding:
Quote“In coordination with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), we will also continue to follow up on illegal sites that have not been blocked or taken down.”
In addition to the public and local telecommunication agencies, Tengco mentioned partnerships with the Philippine National Police, the Department of Information and Communication Technology and the National Bureau of Investigation.
The authority works closely with various online gambling payment providers to stop the flow of funds out of the Philippines to unlicensed sites and to ensure that local players receive full refunds on deposits made to the same.
Below is the official media that PAGCOR released as part of its warning on fake gambling sites and the risk they pose to local players:
You might also like