PAGCOR warns the public against being misled by a growing number of websites that use the regulator’s trademark in an attempt to trick players into believing their activities are related to licensed offshore gaming in Philippines.
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation has taken legal action to enforce payment of fees against 33 gaming licensees in the offshore market. It was noted that these companies have licence feesthat total P2.02bn.
The public was advised to be cautious as “fake” online gaming sites are using the old PAGCOR Logo. This could pose a threat to personal and financial data.
The Philippine National Police is currently taking legal action against websites that are deemed to be suspect. They also hand over the results of their investigation and monitoring of these sites to the Department of Information and Communication Technology and National Bureau of Investigation.
PAGCOR also maintains engagement with law-enforcement agencies and electronic payment services providers to explore the possibilities of blocking payments to and from illegal gaming websites. This has been noted to be “effective in the US and Singapore”.
“We have shut down the majority of these illegal websites but some are able create new ones immediately so we need to be vigilant and work together with the public to help us eliminate these scammers,” said Alejandro Tengco.
Additionally, “In coordination and cooperation with the NTC we will continue to monitor illegal sites which have not yet been blocked or removed.
Another option is to create landing sites to redirect bettors towards a website which will warn them of illegal websites that they are visiting.
Jessa Florandez is the Assistant Vice President of PAGCOR’s Offshore Gaming Licensing Department. She noted that PAGCOR will take all necessary steps to resolve the issue and urged the public to report any unauthorised usage or misrepresentation.
“We urge the public to check our list licensees before accessing these websites and to report immediately any illegal offshore gambling operations.”
The truth about the missing bond
Tengco, along with nine other individuals, welcomed a set of charges last week that were brought against them over the apparent disappearance of PHP75m in performance-related bonds.
After a series media reports in the local area, he stated that he accepted the filing of charges against an e-sabong company (cockfighting), including malversation and theft of public funds as well as falsification and deception of commercial and private documents.
