There is a huge availability of clandestine betting houses, "backyard houses", with a minimum investment and without complying with any legislation anywhere in the world, without Responsible Gaming protocols and worse: without respect for user data, which They are sold in droves to other illegal casinos, and without guarantee of payments.
I always see "NEW PLATFORM, IT IS PAYING" on social media, as if a new platform were good advertising, which should be the opposite, with the use of platforms with years of experience being encouraged, with a serious team, with capital invested to guarantee the payment of large winnings and respect for the GDPR.
These new platforms that appear all the time are created with a single purpose: to transfer income from users to the owner, with robotic customer service, without a compliance sector, without a Responsible Gaming sector. Just one person creating a website and paying affiliates to promote it, and in a short time the website will be closed, carrying with it the users' data for the creation of a new casino and the users' money, and the cycle continues.
I've seen offers to "HAVE YOUR OWN CASINO FOR R$ 600", or people opening online casinos with a low investment, like 10 thousand reais, 5 thousand reais for the ENTIRE casino infrastructure. With cracked games, without basic information and operating in the shadows of the serious market. Although they are clearly clandestine sites, there is no signage and information about why people should avoid these games.
Just as there is a warning to avoid consumption of tobacco cigarettes that have not been inspected, with a fight against the consumption of these goods, there is an urgent need for the Federal Government to take a stance on these clandestine websites.
We cannot wait for the regulations to come out and the rules to start being applied to take action on this. An immediate positioning of information and combat against clandestine websites is necessary, with advertisements on television, during games, using the same space that is used to promote platforms, teaching users to identify clandestine websites.
There are clear identifications that, anyone with experience in this sector, can identify a clandestine website within a few minutes. This information needs to reach the general public, who are being harmed TODAY and not just when regulations come.
It's a fantastic idea to provide your own domain for sites licensed in Brazil with "bet.br", which will be a great device to combat illegal sites. But when will this be applied? We can wait? People have been suffering the consequences of this for a long time, and every day new homes, new scams, new victims appear.
What can we do while we wait for regulation to reap its rewards? Sit and look, or look for ways to raise awareness about the fight against the parallel market, the "backyard houses"?
Rafael Ávila
Responsible Gaming Consultant, Psychologist and Director of SOS Jogador, a voluntary organization formed by professionals in the online betting industry that provides first aid to people with problems in gambling and sports betting.
