In the land-based gambling market, casinos are known to be hotspots for crime, and venue owners are always on alert for potential illegal activities taking place on their property. Now, there are concerns that online casinos could be fuelling illegal online activities in the digital world. Recently, McAfee published a white paper called Jackpot! Money Laundering Through Online Gambling.
The report shows that cybercrime is being paid for using online gambling sites, where payments cannot be traced. The illegal activity that is occurring here is very similar to money laundering. According to the report, money gained from or used to pay for illegal activities can be made untraceable when it is wagered on casino games.
According to the report, there are three main reasons that online gambling sites make it easy for criminals to launder money. Firstly, online casinos are designed to ensure that players are anonymous. They also offer plenty of options for withdrawals and deposits, where players do not need to enter any personal information about themselves.
Finally, there are just too many online gambling sites out there for authorities to be able to monitor every transaction that is made. “Since the genesis of online gambling in the mid-1990s, the proliferation of online casinos has been nothing short of staggering,” reads an excerpt from the report. “This growth has fueled the development of technical capabilities that can be used to launder money”.
There are several initiatives that aim to prevent money laundering from occurring at online gambling websites. Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre is one of the most advanced initiatives, working toward eliminating cybercrime at online casinos in a number of ways.
It helps operators learn the technical and forensic skills to investigate cybercrimes and ensures that local authorities have been trained to manage crimes in the digital world. Research is always being conducted to develop tools that can identify cybercrime activities and those who engage in them.
You can view the entire whitepaper at: http://www.mcafee.com/es/resources/white-papers/wp-jackpot-money-laundering-gambling-summary.pdf?ClickID=ce7spslqsfaqze4aaki7ielwiflqkqakzzki