People complains on illegal Gambling sites in the Philippines

[CryptSafe]

There is a local board for the  Philippines here, and it will be nice if they encourage others to join the Bitcointalk platform, as it would be of great help to them all around. At least they could be able to note scam casinos from here, and if they encounter such outside the platform, they would not fall victim because they already have the knowledge of them all.

As for the advert of scam casinos that pop up as ads via social media handles, they could follow the government instructions and also possibly disable adds on their accounts if it is possible so they do not get or see such advert anymore because the more they see it, the more they would want to attempt it and that would also lead them to getting scammed.

[Cointxz]

The affected users are complaining about scam site since there’s a lot of scam online casino circulating on social media being promoted by local influencers.

However, the exaggerated number listed by the PAGCOR as illegal gambling include both scam casino and just unlicensed from PAGCOR. Some popular casino here in forum are also included on that list.

Rather, these users gamble on unlicensed gambling sites, and when they get scammed on some of them, they complain. I bet that if they win money, they don't complain. What I do believe is that the authorities can go after those influencers who promote unlicensed gambling sites. The article mixed Filipino with English, I guess I missed something.

Actually, there’s already a proposed/approved law that will fine those influencers that promote gambling in their social media account.

The problem is implementation of that law since our local authorities don’t do their job diligently. Last year, there’s some influencers that already sent warning but this year it back to normal again.

That’s how incompetent our local authorities when it comes to cybercrime.

[qwertyup23]

<..snip..>
What do you think will the impact on this on some legits gambling site? Anyone experience an illegal site which users crypto for deposits in the Philippines?

The problem with these gambling websites is that they operate illegally without the requisite license and registration needed.

If you would observe, tons of links and ads are being shown across all social media platforms about a certain random betting website. If you also have some friends who gamble, I am pretty sure that they have also informed you about a certain gambling website that you should try and play with.

The impact of this to legitimate gambling websites would be minimal for as long as they have all the necessary documents and requisites to operate.

For this unlicensed gambling site; when a player wins, do they pay or refuse to pay? I would want to know in what aspect do these scams exist. Is it for deposit? For withdrawal? Or payment declination? I think with these few information, it would be easier for one to identify fake platforms.

I have personally witnessed several of my friends who got scammed from betting on random gambling websites due to the rates being rigged. As soon as they won a huge chunk of money on their end, the gambling website would lock their withdrawals and impose restrictions that ultimately prevents them from receiving it.

[Porfirii]

There is a local board for the  Philippines here, and it will be nice if they encourage others to join the Bitcointalk platform, as it would be of great help to them all around. At least they could be able to note scam casinos from here, and if they encounter such outside the platform, they would not fall victim because they already have the knowledge of them all.

-snip-

I agree because IMO the Filipino local board is among the best here in Bitcointalk.

Although the Philippines are very far from me not only in geographical but also cultural sense, I know the situation with gambling there to some extent, thanks to my Filipino friends here in the forum, and to the news I've read on this subject, and while I consider myself quite liberal when it comes to gambling (mainly because of the culture around gambling where I live), I also believe that some limits must be set when bad actors go too far, like in some of the cases mentioned.

[Hispo]

It makes me wonder why has not the government of Philippines taken action against those influencers who knowingly promote illegal or non-complying gambling sites within their territory.
It would be very easy for the government to talk to official representatives of Instagram and Facebook, so those influencers are warned about possible consequences of pushing those unlicensed casinos or outright scams on their platforms.

Though, considering OP already mentioned there are casinos on that list which are considered to be legit by people from this forum. One must wonder about the charactaristic which are taking in consideration to get listed on such black list.

[joeperry]

What do you think will the impact on this on some legits gambling site? Anyone experience an illegal site which users crypto for deposits in the Philippines?

They will be heavily affected because there are more illegal gambling sites than the real ones and people in general would just think that it's one of them since it's really hard to distinguish the real one and the scam one and I don't think people have time to research which have license and which doesn't have. But for those who are not aware, they can check the site is legitimate or not by checking it here: https://www.pagcor.ph/pagcorguarantee/index-orig.html or in this pdf https://www.pagcor.ph/regulatory/pdf/App%20Kits/List-of-PAGCOR-accredited-Gaming-System-Administrators-and-registered-Brands-and-Sub-brands.pdf

So far there's around 65 licensed online gambling sites listed (not sure if it's updated) but compared to the 1800+ illegal sites, some people would just assume that every gambling sites is illegal. I think it started to increase when the government of the Philippines bans the POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators).

[POPOLUV]

I know that as much as we are growing globally by the day, that is how those scammers are busy looking for a way to scam people globally too with the ways many will not understand it until they are victim of those scammers, i know that it is not only Philippines that is experiencing illegal gambling sites, so i will love to advise all my follow gamblers from others counties that they should never be moved with this newly casinos high ways winning within a short period of time and as for me anything concerning these newly online gambling sites I'm not always interested because they will always work on all the fixtures of site to look as if they have 40 percent of winning and with so much bonuses attached to first timer that we registered with them, and I'm not move with that, i believe to stay on betting sites that is common in countries than joining a newly gambling platform that I'm not even sure if it is scamming site or not.

[bubilas]

When Im browsing about the update on gambling news in the Philippines saw this post last week by ABS CBN news reported that there are lots of complain on more than 1800 gambling sites in the beginnjng of 2026. Pagcor one of the Philippines Government issued a warning to all users to avoid clicking on social medias post on Facebook and Tiktok about illegal gambling sites.

In the Philippines some of the users are technically young or called Gen-Z becoming addicted to easy money betting site. How I wish they knee this forum so they would be safe from scammers posting sites and probably fake gambling sites which exploit the youngs on their modus.

What do you think will the impact on this on some legits gambling site? Anyone experience an illegal site which users crypto for deposits in the Philippines?

Source:
https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2026/3/4/more-than-1-800-complaints-vs-online-gambling-sites-received-from-jan-march-cicc-1841

Sometimes it seems to me that natural selection itself weeds out those guys who are chasing big bonuses and quick withdrawals and do not pay attention to the legality of the online casino in which they register. And of course, many of them don't look at the license information and reviews on good websites. I believe that it is on our promo forum that the best of all existing online casinos take place.

And if a gambler registers at such a casino, then he can be sure that everything will be fine, because any issue with local casinos is quickly resolved through managers. And everyone sees the reviews, they cannot be erased if they are adequately written.

[danherbias07]

Thankfully, I got them all out of my Facebook profile because, in the past, I was also bombarded with lots of online gambling advertisements, and most of them are obviously scammers or illegal. They just change the name whenever they are caught, and sometimes it is too obvious to see because they are just changing the last number or letter of the gambling site name.

The sad part is some of them are being advertised by known social media influencers, but thankfully, I don't see those influencers on my page anymore. Maybe it's because of ignoring the illegal gambling sites.

The effect on the legitimate ones? I don't think there is an effect. Those legitimate ones are also unfair, but because they are licensed, they can do it legally. They still make lots of profits. It's obvious how much they spend on advertising, both on local television and YouTube. Oh, and even in cinemas before the movie.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Despite the government warning to the citizens, it won't stop everyone from still falling victim for those scam casinos, I always wish that when government identifies some issues that the citizens are facing, they would handle it with the right solution, I believe that it's mostly the social media influencers in that region that are promoting this illegal gambling platforms, what the government should do is to arrest those influencers and make them pay some fines for promoting platforms that keeps scamming people. When they start apprehending those influencers, the rest of them will not want to be the next scape goat.

[barbara44]

Sad to see so many illegal gambling sites, but I'll state the harsh truth.

I've been into gambling for almost a decade. Started with sites like bet365, where things are way more controlled and you need to do KYC before you can even deposit and then they have a team that checks if a user is becoming an addict (based on the frequency of deposits, etc).

Then obviously I moved to crypto gambling sites that offer some benefits 365 can't ever offer, one of them is instant withdrawals, and the other is verifiable bets on games like dice. But the biggest problem with crypto gambling is that it's uncontrollable because while they offer self-exclusion options, you can just make another account and don't even have to verify yourself. You can use any cheap VPN and bypass country restrictions as well, but in traditional sites like 365 they detect VPN and block it.

[Shinpako09]

I don't know, but the thing with us Filipinos is that we are attracted by this scams sites or at least illegal and not being listed by our PAGCOR.

And there are a lot of influencers here who are promoting this casinos, for the obvious reasons that they are being paid handsomely by this illegal sites. But as far as much experience goes, I don't play with those illegal sites, I only uses two legal entities casinos here and I'm still using and not being scam, withdraws are instant as well.

Don’t include me. I never play or click ads or links from local social media influencers. I also don’t play much in our local online casinos. It’s been months since the last time I played there, and it was only for a few bucks. I trust the casinos here in the forum more, even if they are not legally registered under PAGCOR. Aside from the government, those local online casinos are really the ones behind the crackdown on illegal casinos. It’s like legally destroying their competitors. It's not because they are concern. Tbh, I don't care much on what they do.

[Pandu Geddon]

What do you think will the impact on this on some legits gambling site?

It will definitely have a significant impact, after all, there is business competition in the market. And it will be the obligation of the government that collects taxes on legal casinos to provide fairness. If the government lets it happen, it will be seen as a negative reflection of governance. But if the government eventually succeeds in eliminating many of these illegal casino sites, there is a possibility that some of them will eventually approach the government and legalize their casinos. That will become another source of additional income.

[Wapfika]

Despite the government warning to the citizens, it won't stop everyone from still falling victim for those scam casinos, I always wish that when government identifies some issues that the citizens are facing, they would handle it with the right solution, I believe that it's mostly the social media influencers in that region that are promoting this illegal gambling platforms, what the government should do is to arrest those influencers and make them pay some fines for promoting platforms that keeps scamming people. When they start apprehending those influencers, the rest of them will not want to be the next scape goat.

It’s the sad reality in general. Here in Philippines there’s still a lot of people that’s uneducated on online scam. They easily fall on the “free money” scheme and later on require deposits to withdraw the free money.

This is an obvious scam scheme yet many gullible Filipino gambler still fall for it because they are looking for the potential free money. Scammer here is preying on the gullibility of Filipino gambler.

There’s also influencers that promoting scam casino in exchange for huge payment.

[robelneo]

Not only on social media sites, but every day I receive 5 to 10 invitations to try out unfamiliar casinos on my cellphone, and I don't even remember using that number at any casinos.
And also thought the numbers would go down because authorities recently cracked down on influencers, asking Meta to take down their pages.
These casino operators in the Philippines are active because they know that people in the Philippines are easy prey to gambling during the heydays of online sabong or cockfighting, so many Filipinos got addicted, and you will read about crimes committed because of cockfighting.

[michellee]

All scams casinos sites offering an easy money to people. People register, hopes they can win big. Scammers will posts in many social medias and they already used Facebook and Tiktok to sharing the sites.

Gen-Z, these young generation who wants to earn easy money without working hard clearly tempting and trying to get the money. They lacks of information, do not know if that is just a scam method to trick them.

Maybe the impact that could happens is people will carefully selecting the casinos and they will not click the offers but will verify before deciding. It is good for people so they will not getting scams from the unknown casinos.

[MRY]

All scams casinos sites offering an easy money to people. People register, hopes they can win big. Scammers will posts in many social medias and they already used Facebook and Tiktok to sharing the sites.

Gen-Z, these young generation who wants to earn easy money without working hard clearly tempting and trying to get the money. They lacks of information, do not know if that is just a scam method to trick them.

Maybe the impact that could happens is people will carefully selecting the casinos and they will not click the offers but will verify before deciding. It is good for people so they will not getting scams from the unknown casinos.

The choice to subscribe to a platform that we know of but are not sure about its legality is a very dangerous step towards the safety of our personal information and money. We witness that the temptation to make millions has overshadowed the values of honesty and hard labour, which is expected of every grown up. Lack of knowledge on the modus operandi of the fraudsters causes many people to become trapped in a hole of losses which are hard to get out. Self responsibility is an important kind of maturity in the choice of information on the internet.

[iv4n]

When Im browsing about the update on gambling news in the Philippines saw this post last week by ABS CBN news reported that there are lots of complain on more than 1800 gambling sites in the beginnjng of 2026. Pagcor one of the Philippines Government issued a warning to all users to avoid clicking on social medias post on Facebook and Tiktok about illegal gambling sites.

Pagcor issued a warning, but is there a bigger picture? Maybe they just want casinos under their system so they can regulate them & collect taxes... It's always about money.

So maybe it's not about whether those casinos on the list are illegal or scams, it's not about players, it's simply about who is paying taxes. Those casinos that don't pay are on the list, and players will avoid them because of this warning.

[Mahiyammahi]

It is really worrying that so many complaints are being received against illegal gambling sites in the Philippines. Due to this, it can be seen that at the end of the day, there may be a crisis of trust even in the legitimate gambling platforms, because new users cannot distinguish between real and fake sites. Especially Gen-Z is getting more and more deceived by their tempting promotions in the hope of easy and fast income. So I think to stop this, we need to create awareness among ourselves as well as the government so that everyone can recognize real and fake sites and be careful before making a deposit.

[Beparanf]

When Im browsing about the update on gambling news in the Philippines saw this post last week by ABS CBN news reported that there are lots of complain on more than 1800 gambling sites in the beginnjng of 2026. Pagcor one of the Philippines Government issued a warning to all users to avoid clicking on social medias post on Facebook and Tiktok about illegal gambling sites.

Pagcor issued a warning, but is there a bigger picture? Maybe they just want casinos under their system so they can regulate them & collect taxes... It's always about money.

So maybe it's not about whether those casinos on the list are illegal or scams, it's not about players, it's simply about who is paying taxes. Those casinos that don't pay are on the list, and players will avoid them because of this warning.

The funny thing about PAGCOR enforcement is they just implement isp ban on the website that doesn’t have license while users can still access online casino with VPN and a regular data from different service provider since most casino that has license under Curacao and Anjouan still allowed Philippines resident to gamble so the restrictions is merely an excuse to force casino to register and pay taxes.

Even illegal gambling on backyard is still widespread in Philippines. PAGCOR can’t regulate properly all gambling activities in PH.