The regulator says it is committed to the prosecution of persons involved in such illegal activities
In a notice published on Monday, the gaming and casino regulator PAGCOR directly warned the public about the increased opportunities during the health pandemic for fraudsters to take advantage of social media and steal financial and personal information for illegal purposes.
They went on to caution the public not to ‘patronise such schemes due to the risk of being scammed, identity theft, and credit card fraud.’ Betting on such illegal gambling activities is also a crime, they went on to say.
No person other that those licenced by PAGCOR and other government agencies may operate gambling in the Philippines.The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation said that it had caught wind of a number of persons that ‘have been organising illegal bingo games and online gambling and using facebook to promote such illegal activities’.
PAGCOR reiterated that betting on illegal gambling activities is a crime.
In a statement, the regulator said that “PAGCOR is responsible for licensing and regulating persons primarily engaged in gambling and their allied businesses”,
“No person other that those licenced by PAGCOR and other government agencies may operate gambling in the Philippines. It is illegal for any person, other than those referred to in the preceding sentence to in any manner, directly or indirectly take part in any unauthorised gambling activities, including online, internet, or remote gambling. (PD1602 in relation to Ra10175, see also E013s, 2017).
They further added that the agency “is committed to the prosecution of persons involved in such illegal activities, because of the strong link between illegal gambling and organized crime who are also engaged in credit card fraud, identity theft, money laundering, among others.”
The warning came after several non-registered offshore gaming operators or locally termed NOGOs, were nabbed for operating illegal online gambling activities. Several NOGOs were raided and individuals behind the operations were arrested since the start of the quarantine situation in the country.
At least four NOGOs in major cities in Metro Manila were ordered to shut down, and cash in different currencies, identification cards, passports as well as equipment allegedly used for online gambling like computers, mobile phones and routers were confiscated by the authorities.
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