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There are a plethora of illegal books, many run by college students, young adults and even teens. How secure are these websites??
What I am really asking is how easy (possible) would it be to hack the site and change a users balance without being detected??

No one cares for the simple reason that the people who go and ask for trouble are the ones who go and just sign up in any of these newly established sport bookies that has everything as a copy-paste from reputable casinos except they cannot have the same security,audit and many other mechanisms in place to guarantee people funds.The reputable ones are the ones who have stood time and only positive reviews you can find about them,not a single complain left without response,so most smart people are the ones who make their own research for any website,even more for a casino which is related to money before joining one,I have never been victim of such hacks/scams for the simple reason that I always read a lot before deciding to join a website.

So this is as a reply to what to do,so to avoid those new sites and only join reputable ones.

If you don’t want stress, then better to avoid this kind of site at all cost especially if you already have the idea that the site is being run by an incompetent individual. We tend to try new site and trust it easily, again always do your own research before you put big money and always test the water before going all in.

Illegal books are not secured.
Why put your money on the line, why put your mental health on the line to gamble at illegal books because of a few " promised" win.

Aside of hacks, the government can shut them down, aside this also, the bookies can ban or block your access to your account can be denied. This has a higher probability of happening than a hack.

Where have you seen that? You have a source for that? When you open a sportsbook you need to know what you are doing or you can get ruined easily and quickly by good bettors. In addition, I don't know what you're calling "illegal" because there is no international rules, and criteria are very lax in some countries if any.

Why would anyone use any of those sites anymore.  Back in the day when sports or casino betting wasn't as easy to access you had to take risks.  Nowadays there are plenty of reputable choices that you can use with little to no worries.   The only reason I could even see is if you get cash out and not digital and if they have better odds than any other place you can go legally.  Either way too much risk.

Not sure what you're up to, and to be honest I don't think I would be even interested to explore and pick your brain with whatever's going on in that hunk of meat but then again I'd humor your question.

Depends on the production quality of the betting site that they have made. While it's easy to assume that since these are broke college students, they couldn't afford to go ham on security and would most likely cut corners where they could, but developing a website's becoming cheaper nowadays, and the internet's becoming even more secure, which means these people will eventually have free rein to do and create whatever they want without the fear of getting duped while they're trying to commit crimes.

Plus it wouldn't be that profitable honestly to scam these people, when they only cater to a couple of gamblers within the campus, maybe the entire school they're studying in plus a couple neighborhoods within their vicinity. And to go through all that trouble just to tweak someone's balance? I don't think that's a fair trade to me.

How can you be sure that it's actually a student running the bookmaker site you saw? While entirely possible, it's unlikely. A proper bookie will have its own support and staff to keep things going. So a single student having the budget is just unlikely.

But the other thing here is that you'd probably want to avoid no-name bookies for other reasons. Let's say you have an exceptionally big win, how can you be sure that they will pay out? Generally don't just gamble on sites that just pop out of nowhere. Search for their reputation here and in other reputable forums and hear what actual gamblers have to say. Bitcointalk is actually a very good forum to seek established online casinos that you can trust. Because if there's any discrepancy to an online casino experienced users here will pick it apart to every detail.

Simple, if they're run by unknown people then why you're going to use them? you know that they're illegal so why patronize them?

Every website can be hacked by anybody and having the weak security that they have makes them easy to get hacked. That is why legitimate casinos that have reputations over time invest a lot in the security of their systems.

They don't get penetrated easily by the hackers but they're not 100% secure because of some updates that they've might missed or the upgrade and fault finding by the hackers through potential loopholes.

Anything is possible in this era. A lot of "wannabe" hackers and people learning all about it just by watching the popular streaming site.
But let's face it, a sports bookie is called a reputable one not just because of its services but also because of its security against these threats. I mean initially, there's no necessity to be threatened, they have to be prepared with this from day 1 because all those succubus will be there to suck the money out if they leave the lock open.

So we as customers will rely on picking what is the best online bookie for us. That's our job, it cannot be one way only. We also want to protect our money so we do our research too and that will help prevent what we are afraid of from happening.
In my case, I always use the comments of the people who have tried them, the courageous ones who took the risk and tested the website and live to tell the story.

On point! especially if you know that it is not secured, it is much better to avoid such sites because you have no claim in case of problems or hacking incidents, the money you put in there is not safe especially as you said, it is operated by incompetent and unreliable individuals. We should be better nowadays at knowing legit sites, there is nothing to lose if we do a fact check first before we become impulsive in our decisions especially when there is money involved.

Who would bother with those websites? You have a lot of sportbooks which will be happy to take your business just on this market, and if you are willing to add fiat casinos to the mix, that number goes up dramatically.

So instead of wondering stuff like that, simply forget about them, as the risks that you will take by gambling there are massive, because that kind of sportbook could scam you whenever they want and you will have no way to try to get your money back, as the sportbook has no license anyway, so the people behind it are not afraid of breaking the law.

If you say websites like that, of course they are not secure and not trustworthy, because they are designed by individuals who just copy-paste from existing casino templates, there is no security and no audit on them. So it's best to avoid using casino platforms like that, because it's clear that when you encounter problems or win big or when they have several hundred users, they can just disappear and run away from their responsibilities.


That's possible if you hack a website like this. If you manage to enter their database without being detected, then you can change your balance. However, it seems that even if they are not credible, they still have knowledge in the field of hacking, so not being detected may be difficult, but that doesn't mean there are no loopholes.

Which sites are you referring to? maybe you can give some specific examples?
It's obvious that I absolutely wouldn't trust a site like that.
And it's obvious that numbers in a database can always be modified. Of course they can't have the same safety rules like a big operator. I will just use only legitimate operators I will never deal with unregistered one.

College students have easy access to the internet and only GOD knows the information and sites visited by these students. Illegal books are mainly discreet information that are high class based, but got into the wrong hands, hacks will become vast and users will start complaining of loss of data. They will not be able to solve what's coming their path, though we have at our front important information but with the existence of hackers, things will be rough handled. These sites will generate important information but with the hacks everything blocked and complicated.

To be honest, I don’t quite understand why illegal bookmaker organizations should be used when there are legal, reputable ones. Here, apparently, the only question is the advantages, pros and cons of such work. Let's think about what advantages there could be in playing on an illegal bookmaker's website? Nothing even comes to my mind. Maybe. Are there any other coefficients? Is there scope for a arb strategy? Are there any restrictions for some players who have had their account blocked on other sites? Each specific case will have its own answers. As for the shortcomings, they have already been cited here many times. The main thing is the possibility of fraud, lack of audits, support, etc.

I have never used an Illegal sportsbook so I don't have much information about those but as far as I can understand then using of anything that's illegal should be avoided. If I understand it better then illegal sportsbooks are maintained by incompetent, corrupt, and fraud people who can't be trusted.

They can run away with ones money and no one will be able to take action against them. That's why I think it's much better to avoid those illegal sportsbook platforms and go with the ones that are provided by trusted sportsbook providers.

So I assume that you mean sports book right? since you are in gambling section so maybe that site is what you are referring on.

But since as you mean its illegal then its been operated by college student or young adult then it does mean that those illegal book makers cannot pay their obligations to their site users especially if there player gain something from their site.

So much better not to use it for risky reason and much better use those sites that have reputation and also have good result for compensating their site users when they earn something from them.

Please, if you know the answer to the question that OP's trying to ask, don't answer for the sake that this might prevent an attempt to hack a website. Illegal sportsbook are a thing but I haven't heard of any online ones, most of them are doing books physically, most of them operate on an individual level and in my opinion, it makes them a target for people that are trying bust illegal gambling operation, you can do this illegally at a small scale but it's not advisable to this thing when you're trying to make it big, more money means more problems for you and in this particular case, it's a problem that you don't want to risk your life away, the money in illegal thing isn't worth it anyway.

There are ways to avoid such questions in the future and not put yourself into lots of related questions.

Just stick with famous and reputable bookies from now on. It might not be an assurance that you are 100% safe even using famous bookies but at least you will minimize the chance of being scammed by these sites as they are registered and centralized.

I wondered why there are users who still end up in illegal bookies despite several famous bookies today.

I have also heard of them but why should gamblers use them when you're going to have problems with them knowing that they're illegally operating? The target customers of theirs are the ones that likes to explore the casinos that they haven't used yet and that's why if you are for the the illegal bookies then make sure that you are ready if ever they come on an instant and then gone on an instant with all of the deposits that has been done by their customers, it's hard to trust them if they can't even make themselves legalized and most gamblers nowadays are looking for licensed ones.

I am not an expert on cybersecurity but undoubtly hacking and changing balances on one of those sites would be pretty easy in comparison on trying to do the same to an more established and regulated sportbook.
The security flaw would be even  easier to spot if the bookie was coded by some teen or colleage student by their own and did not buy the code from some provider or a professional programmer, for example.
Though, obviously, regardless on how unlicensed the bookie is, taking advantage of exploits like those is still a crime and nobody is supposed to do that and assume they would be doing some lesser evil, it would be a lie to themselves.

If you are asking these questions because you are planning to start you own unregulated sport book, then I don't have any further comments on it...

It's too broad a question and I'm not sure it's even at any significant scale. There might be the odd tech savvy youngster who would be capable and have any interest in setting up such a site, but it requires a huge amount of effort to make it all functional - a barrier that will stop 99.99% of people from doing it. There's also a range of ways to do it, such as using forum software like this - creating threads where people submit pool bets and then keep track of the outcomes in a more secure place like google spreadsheet. You're very unlikely to find many instances of small scale sites getting popular enough and feature rich enough to be holding balances, as there is a lot of infrastructure required behind the scenes for that - but generally, yes, they would be hackable in all sorts of ways.

From a personal standpoint, I’d strongly advise against engaging with any illegal online activities, including unregulated betting sites. The risks far outweigh the potential benefits. Not only are there legal concerns to consider, but the lack of security can also put your personal and financial information at great risk. It’s not just about the potential for someone hacking the site, it’s also about the operators themselves who might not have your best interests at heart

Moreover, dabbling in such activities can have broader consequences, potentially leading to identity theft or financial fraud that can haunt you long after you’ve left the site. It’s always better to play it safe and stick with regulated, legal platforms where your security is a priority and you have legal protection. Engaging in illegal betting is a risky gambit that’s just not worth taking.
You make a valid point! Setting up and running an online betting site, especially one that deals with real money, involves complex development and significant security measures that go beyond basic web programming. The effort, knowledge, and resources required to create such a site that can securely handle transactions and personal data are substantial.

Most tech savvy individuals interested in such projects might indeed be deterred by the technical challenges and legal risks. As you mentioned, a more simplified approach using forum software and spreadsheets is conceivable but has its limits in scalability and security. Such setups wouldn’t typically handle direct transactions or store sensitive information like a full-fledged betting platform would.

In addition, any site that grows to manage substantial balances and transactions would quickly attract attention, not just from potential users but also from regulators and cybercriminals, adding another layer of complexity in terms of legal compliance and security.

Given these barriers, while technically possible, the likelihood of small, informal betting sites becoming prevalent and sophisticated enough to pose a significant risk or attract a large user base is indeed quite low. It’s an interesting area to consider from a theoretical or cybersecurity research perspective, but in practical terms, the barriers to entry and risks are high.

Illegal books? Maybe the illegal meaning is just from a country that prohibits gambling. Sports betting site is not illegal, especially in a country that allows gambling. We can suggest you to use the casino that have reputation so you don't have to worry if they will cheat or scam you. Hack the site? If the casino site have a high security level, that site will not gets hack easily because their security teams will always monitor and protect the site from the hackers. So there's no way to hack the users balance unless there's a bug or hole in the site that the hackers can enter to the sites and takes the users balance. But we should aware that nothing is 100% secure so there still a chance that hacker can enter to the site and do something for their own purposes. But as long as the security teams can works to protect their site, that things will not happens. The casino will make sure their members will be safe and comfort while playing gambling in their site.

This question in itself is very much suspicious because i would Wonder why you would want to hack into someones account so you can get to change their balance and do whatever it is you wish to do with the said account without been detected just like you asked, it's really sounding like an unsafe intention despite the fact that it's looking like just a question but then what you did asked about just so you know is actually possible.

There have been times where we got to hear of sites been hacked by a set of hackers and  good amount of funds lost to the incident so i wouldn't want to think it's not possible to get hacked and account balance been changed by the hackers but then it's most definitely not going to be an easy task except for site built by students as you did mentioned and they happen not to be professional enough then it could be assume the firewalls my be weak and easy to breakthrough and gain access to the admin area and possible manipulations done .

These sites usually created by these young and yet to be professional sites are usually not used most times for professional sites but maybe for test running of projects and other possible reason but due to the probability of been possibly hacked, it's usually not been used so as to avoid future problems. I have been wondering if this post is even supposed to be in this thread, that should be looked into and moved if need be otherwise. It can be allowed here.

^ The books he meant are p[probably the hacking books published by the hackers. It could just be an easy guide for hackers wanna be.

If the hacker can get inside the website, he should just withdraw the funds if he can or change the deposit address of the users to his. This is a better option than just having a large amount of BTC in an account that eventually be locked by the casino when they find out.

No one in their right mind would ask such a question, so I think you have some bad intentions. It seems your real question is whether it's possible to hack these sites and steal money from users. You probably think that no one will complain because they are illegal sites. Well, illegal or not, I think what you want to do is very wrong!!!

No one should risk their money with unverified sportsbooks, smart people stick to verified sites. If someone doesn't know which sites are good, they can get more information on this forum and some other places. I guess the point is, don't risk money before doing some research.

Whether the bookies are operated by youngsters or not, as long as they comply with everything legal to make their business legit, that's all good. As per security, no one can determine how good it is but if they are legit, just hope that their technical staff are doing their very best to make everything secure.


Do you mean a third-party hacker will hack the site and then change the user's balance?

If a hack happens, VISUALLY, what you see in the user's balance is as is. Users will not notice it but expect that the site's operation will freeze.

You do not need to gamble on these illegal sites to enable you not fall victim to their scam. Gamble in a reputable casino that you know nothing will deprive you from withdrawal of your funds when you win big, and there will be no excuses.

Those incompetent people operating the illegal site, are up to something, if not why will they operate in an illegal way. It is good that you stay away from them, because they are not doing the right thing, and every other aspect of their site and activities will not be real.

Haven't heard of this kind of bookies that you call illegal, not sure how they are being promoted online as obviously, there are a lot of legal and great sport bookies that we all know and why take the risk on using fly-by-night bookies by college students?

Maybe this is just within the campus and not globally though, otherwise it will have been taken down already. And for this illegal bookies, they just go and be under the radar as they don't want to be exposed and be on the authorities prying eyes. Of course, it's going to be easy to hack if they want to. So is bewildering for someone to used them. Maybe if you are a newbie in sports bookies. But if you have years of experience, I doubt that you will fall for this trick.

I don't know why someone would see that a site is operating illegally and still prefer to gamble there, in the first place.
Such sites can't assure you to get your winnings if you do win big and we even see how the registered and legal ones fail to remit wins or give rewards or respond to customer's grievance on time, let alone an illegal site doing same, unless you know the host and it's a closed group of gamblers and you understand the risk involved.

Since when is it wrong to ask a hypothetical question?!
Because many of you have some concerns about my intentions, I will say here that I have no intentions other than understanding why these illegal sites are so popular and continue to exist now that sportbooks are legal in so many states.
Furthermore, I want to clarify the type of site which I am talking about.
There are these sites - ie) everysport.ag, bet.ag, parlaykingdom.ag ETC. - and these sites seem just to be a free service where anyone can become a bookie.  The sites provide the same service any of the major sportsbooks would provide. In many cases there are agents under a "backer" who is responsible for the finances required to pay people out. The agents get paid a certain percentage when their clients are net down.
Usually, these bookies spread their product by word of mouth and by offering current clients freeplay credits in exchange for refferals.
I am highly skeptical of anyone who chooses to use these books over a centralized alternative.