Game Over for Scammers: Regional Defenses Against Online Gambling–Related Scams

Date of Event: 30 April 2026
Event: GASA Meet-Up

Online gambling-related scams have emerged as one of the fastest-growing and most complex threats facing consumers globally. Criminal networks have identified gambling environments as highly effective vehicles for fraud — combining high-frequency transactions, emotional decision-making, and limited transparency to create ideal conditions for large-scale deception. Victims rarely enter these platforms suspecting fraud; they enter believing they are gambling. The pathway from perceived legitimate activity to scam often begins with social media ads, influencer endorsements, or trusted referrals, before shifting into manipulated odds, withdrawal barriers, fee extraction, and outright theft. Global scam losses surpassed US$1 trillion in 2024, and no region is immune.

Speakers:

• Brian Hanley, Asia-Pacific Director – Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA)  (Moderator)
• Carolyn Lidgerwood, Authority Lead, Gambling – Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) 
• Mikel Arana Echezarreta, Directorate General– Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) 

• Sungyong Kang, Criminal Intelligence Officer – INTERPOL Financial Crime & Anti-Corruption Centre (IFCACC) 

The webinar surfaced stark findings across three jurisdictions. Spain's DGOJ shared that since 2013, they have blocked nearly 2,500 gambling portals and over 22,000 individual URLs through administrative action alone — without the need for court orders — and have imposed 221 serious sanctions totalling more than €500 million in fines over the past five years.

Hear from Mikel

Gambling fraud networks are global, while regulation remains national. Forums like this are crucial to share information and prevent harm — future effectiveness depends on payment traceability, affiliate controls, and international cooperation.

Mikel Arana Echezarreta

Directorate General– Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego

Australia's ACMA detailed the rise of "scambling" — a term coined for illegal online gambling platforms that deliberately target vulnerable communities, including Indigenous Australians, using social media, PayID payments, and rapidly shifting URLs to evade detection. Carolyn Lidgerwood painted a sobering picture of the real-world consequences:

hear from Carolyn

For people in some of our remote Indigenous communities who are on low incomes, what this means in practice is that they can't pay their rent. They can't buy food. These are particularly insidious scams — and in some remote communities, almost all the households seeking financial help are caught up in these types of schemes.

 

Carolyn Lidgerwood

Australian Communications and Media Authority

She also offered a direct message to the public: "When you start getting these messages on your WhatsApp, Facebook, or Instagram — they're scams. You are not going to win any money. You are just going to lose money.

INTERPOL's IFCACC presented the global scam landscape as increasingly industrialised, with criminal operations structured around a clear division of labour and a deeply entrenched link to online gambling — used both as a scam vehicle and as a channel for laundering proceeds. Sungyong Kang described how the ecosystem has evolved:

Hear from Sungyong

The scam itself has been very much industrialised. Criminals are cooperating between each other — they divide the chores. Scammers scam, they rely on proficient money launderers, they hire others to gather and withdraw the money, and they share scripts via the dark web. What used to require many hands now runs like an industry.

Sungyong Kang

Criminal Intelligence Officer, Interpol

INTERPOL's I-GRIP mechanism — which enables law enforcement agencies to rapidly intervene and intercept criminal funds across borders — has already resulted in the recovery of significant sums for victims worldwide. I-Checkit further allows financial institutions to screen identity documents in real time against INTERPOL's databases of stolen and lost travel documents.

Online gambling-related scams are not simply a gambling problem — they are simultaneously a financial crime, a consumer protection failure, and a profound social harm. As Brian Hanley of GASA summarised in closing:

Hear from Brian

This is not just a gambling problem. It's a scam. It's a money laundering vehicle. And it's a social harm all at once. The response needs to be full stack — regulation, enforcement, cross-border cooperation, financial intelligence, and public awareness working together. A fragmented response will always struggle to keep up

Brian D. Hanley

GASA Chapter Director - APAC

Watch the full discussion to learn how global regulators and law enforcement are tackling online gambling-related scams.

Explore our upcoming webinars to continue the conversation, or browse past sessions for deeper insights into evolving scam threats.