People complains on illegal Gambling sites in the Philippines

[cryptoaddictchie]

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

[yahoo62278]

Are the illegal sites scamming users or just operating illegally? Really don't see much difference between this and casinos operating without a license. I don't really know how 1 affects the other but I am sure the legit casinos don't like the illegal poaching customers.

[Cointxz]

Are the illegal sites scamming users or just operating illegally? Really don't see much difference between this and casinos operating without a license. I don't really know how 1 affects the other but I am sure the legit casinos don't like the illegal poaching customers.

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.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

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.

[fullfitlarry]

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.

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.

[crwth]

From my understanding of the Philippine landscape from a regulatory perspective, there are a couple of agencies that govern it.

• Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR)
• Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA)
• Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO)

These, of course, are the main ones aside from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). The first one, PAGCOR, has the domestic part, and the other two deal with offshore gaming. A lot of casinos operate overseas, which is why it's hard to prosecute them in Philippine soil. It's not subject to law, hence the difficulties people are experiencing.

From my perspective, it's the social media brain rot that made this possible that easy money ads make it look attainable. We all know the truth about this. It's definitely hard to solve this problem unless people understand the importance of financial literacy. Then maybe there would be a different landscape on this.

[Fiatless]

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?

Illegal casinos will reduce the revenue of the registered ones, as some gamblers will continue patronizing the former. These unregistered casinos will give the gambling industry a bad name since they scam gamblers. Some Filipinos might decide to avoid local gambling platforms because of their bad experiences with illegal casinos.

It is generally believed that celebrities or influencers are the main drivers or promoters of these illegal platforms. Young people easily believe what these influencers say. The government should pass laws that restrict these influencers from promoting unregistered casinos. 

[_act_]

Before I knew and came  to this forum, I have been gambling but only on legit gambling sites. I do not register on a gambling site because I saw them online, I registered because I browsed about the gambling sites and know what it online about the site. If there is little to no information or if the site is said to be scam, I just avoid it. But gambling sites that is talked good about are the ones that I was using. The GenZ and other people need to learn how to avoid scam.

[Mr. Magkaisa]

Are the illegal sites scamming users or just operating illegally? Really don't see much difference between this and casinos operating without a license. I don't really know how 1 affects the other but I am sure the legit casinos don't like the illegal poaching customers.

There are some casino website that will give you bonuses and make you win but you will never get your money and will ask you to deposit more, There are many victimes on this and i knw some of them.
Some links are illegally operating but paying, some are not. But there was some incidents even PAGCOR approved licence casino are scamming people.  JoshHope is one streamer online a known vlogger her in the PH got scammed by a platform called CROWNJILI even he is a VIP10 user.

JoshHope with CROWNJILI

[Orpichukwu]

…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.

Sometime last year I read about a bill in the Philippines which prohibits the promotions of this illegal gambling site and even legal ones by this influencer. Unless the bill did not pass a ruling or I'm mistaking it for the Philippines, if such a bill does exist, then the government can use that against those influencers, not just for promoting those illegal sites but also for breaking the law. Those dudes are paid heavily to sell illegal products to the people, and they really don't care if their followers get scammed or not.

[yahoo62278]

Are the illegal sites scamming users or just operating illegally? Really don't see much difference between this and casinos operating without a license. I don't really know how 1 affects the other but I am sure the legit casinos don't like the illegal poaching customers.

There are some casino website that will give you bonuses and make you win but you will never get your money and will ask you to deposit more, There are many victimes on this and i knw some of them.
Some links are illegally operating but paying, some are not. But there was some incidents even PAGCOR approved licence casino are scamming people.  JoshHope is one streamer online a known vlogger her in the PH got scammed by a platform called CROWNJILI even he is a VIP10 user.

JoshHope with CROWNJILI

How many times do we see people being asked to deposit in order to withdraw? Where does that even sound legitimate? I know many have fallen for it but what does that say about their intelligence?

Maybe a few people of the Philippines can start streaming and be the voice for the population and bring awareness to these scam operations. Education never hurt anyone.

[swogerino]

I guess this type of activity is well known in China where government restricts gambling but since you are also saying this happens also in the Philippines then there must be some reason people do it. Some people may not be happy with some government restrictions like taxes put in place and this activity has found to be lucrative enough to people to start applying it. Of course this is dangerous and illegal but as long as they are not scamming anyone people bold enough to risk prison for gambling will be the ones playing there, no normal people so normal people will not be affected.

[Yaunfitda]

…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.

Sometime last year I read about a bill in the Philippines which prohibits the promotions of this illegal gambling site and even legal ones by this influencer. Unless the bill did not pass a ruling or I'm mistaking it for the Philippines, if such a bill does exist, then the government can use that against those influencers, not just for promoting those illegal sites but also for breaking the law. Those dudes are paid heavily to sell illegal products to the people, and they really don't care if their followers get scammed or not.

Yes, I was also the under impression that they are heavily cracking down on illegal games as I remember that there were issues about those missing "sabungeros" and it looks like they haven't found the big boss of this organization. So apart from that, the case of influencers are well who are promoting illegal casinos. So perhaps it's better for them to see what online sites are illegal and legal and not just deposit money because they see that a certain influencers is promoting it. And as most of the cases of scammers or cheating casinos, you can deposit but you can't withdraw or simply can't win because it's not provably fair.

[Mr. Magkaisa]

Are the illegal sites scamming users or just operating illegally? Really don't see much difference between this and casinos operating without a license. I don't really know how 1 affects the other but I am sure the legit casinos don't like the illegal poaching customers.

There are some casino website that will give you bonuses and make you win but you will never get your money and will ask you to deposit more, There are many victimes on this and i knw some of them.
Some links are illegally operating but paying, some are not. But there was some incidents even PAGCOR approved licence casino are scamming people.  JoshHope is one streamer online a known vlogger her in the PH got scammed by a platform called CROWNJILI even he is a VIP10 user.

JoshHope with CROWNJILI

How many times do we see people being asked to deposit in order to withdraw? Where does that even sound legitimate? I know many have fallen for it but what does that say about their intelligence?

Maybe a few people of the Philippines can start streaming and be the voice for the population and bring awareness to these scam operations. Education never hurt anyone.

The main problem here is the administration, the government and PAGCOR.
The President told the nation on this State of the Nation Address (SONA) to eliminate POGO and online casino as it is a big problem for  young generation,
Ewallets before have  their own app which you can play casino on the wallet app.
Pres. BongBong Marcos told the public to stop the POGO, A total banned! but, Online casino spread more, many new platforms were created. Streamers and ads gone crazy with casinos.
Actors, singers, vloggers and many more are publicly promoting online casinos.

[Gozie51]

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?

I don't know of any in Philippines but I think most casinos use crypto to deposit and so even an illegal casino will also use crypto to make it look legit. The issue with illegal casino in Philippines is the government that is restricting the operation of casinos and shutting them down. So it is expected that those who have not been allowed to legitimately operate will go under to do it behind the government because they already know the system. The buttom line is whether they are scamming players and not giving them their winning. There is difference between illegal casino and scam casino. I believe they are illegal because the government policy have made it so.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

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.

Probably because casinos can offer a lower house edge or better promotions. That's what happens when you operate without being subject to strict regulations and tax payments. Furthermore, as far as I can see, winning players also have to pay taxes, so I'm not surprised that they are attracted to these sites that are not controlled by the government.

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.

I don't know what the laws are in the Philippines regarding this, but they may have gotten themselves into trouble.

[giammangiato]

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 impact for legitimate casinos is inevitable, an average user (with little knowledge of the web) if he is scammed once or more, with a lot of difficulty will return to play online without the necessary precautions.
I'd say it's also normal, if you burn yourself once, the second time you don't try at all, if he's a stubborn person and wants to try again, he'll carefully select where to invest his money.
The impact is inevitable.

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

Are the illegal sites scamming users or just operating illegally? Really don't see much difference between this and casinos operating without a license. I don't really know how 1 affects the other but I am sure the legit casinos don't like the illegal poaching customers.

From what I understand on the link shared, they are operating illegal, so it could be that they are not registered to their state run gaming corporation that's why they are giving a fair warning. And as the OP pointed out, gamblers are fairly young and could be trap by this illegal sites.

And it's prevalent on Facebook, I have seen a lot of ads lately even targeting crypto users, like fake exchanges, or even tradeview is being used by criminals to victimized. Lessons here is not just in illegal gambling sites, but also those crypto related services.

As for the impact on legit sites, then obviously their business are affected by this poachers.

[Sammye3]

Publicity in every sense would always save many from scams, and i see it as an issue in the Phillipines so people would take advantage of that to the best of their interest.

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.

[justdimin]

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?

Illegal casinos will reduce the revenue of the registered ones, as some gamblers will continue patronizing the former. These unregistered casinos will give the gambling industry a bad name since they scam gamblers. Some Filipinos might decide to avoid local gambling platforms because of their bad experiences with illegal casinos.

It is generally believed that celebrities or influencers are the main drivers or promoters of these illegal platforms. Young people easily believe what these influencers say. The government should pass laws that restrict these influencers from promoting unregistered casinos. 

Yep, pretty much the only solution is to ensure no one promotes these illegal betting sites, not without serious consequences at least. We live in the social media age, where people can be influenced by almost anything said online by someone with a large following. Governments need to recognize that some influencers today function much like the con artists who once operated on the streets, except now they do it online, without facing any real accountability.

One such example is how India recently banned all the gambling apps online and anyone found promoting these sites will face prison time and massive penalties. The consequences must be scary enough to deter people from committing the crime.