Online casinos targeted Australians risk million fines

The popularity of online tipping increased among Australians during last year's coronal virus restrictions.

Online casinos that appear to be targeted to Australian players, without an Australian license, have not been closed despite the authorities working a hard fight against illegal operators.

Ten seemingly unlisted online casinos marketed to Australians are still available two months after the Australian communications and media authority told the Guardian Australia that they were aware of the sites and that they "all fall under our priority activities".

Many of the sites have an explicit Australian theme, including Fair Go Casino, previously investigated by ACMA; True Blue; And PlayCroco, who has described itself as an "online casino for Australian Pokie lovers".

Six of the casinos also announced local phone numbers, although four did not take the phone and one went to an answering machine when the Guardian called this week.

All the 10 casinos were marketed via the AussieCasinohex.com website, which describes themselves as "number 1 guide to gambling in Australia".

Providing a unlicensed online gambling service to Australians is a crime that can with them a fine of up to $ 1.1 million per day according to the Interactive Gambling Act (IGA).

Lucrative casino market

The sites compete for a bit of a potentially very lucrative cake. Estimates for revenue harvested by online gaming operators in the Asia Pacific range from around $ 65 billion to more than $ 90 billion, and the number of players online increased among Australians during last year's shutdowns, according to state research.

But examining the casinos becomes more difficult because they do not reveal their ownership, and most protect the registration of their sites behind services offered by the Internet infrastructure company Cloudflare - used by nine of the 10 gambling sites investigated by the Guardian.

A man who responded to Two Up Casinos Australian phone number said the casino was on Curaçao.

He said that Australian customers were welcome.

"Yes, we have a license in Australia," he said. "We have many players all over the world."

He said he was not allowed to deliver details about the license over the phone.

None of the 10 casinos answered questions sent to the addresses listed on their websites. A marketing company listed as a on press releases published by Fair Go Casino and PlayCroco did not answer questions sent via email and social media.

The identity or identities of the suppliers of slot machines offered by the sites are also unclear.

Real Time Gaming

All 10 seem to offer a variety of colorful, animated games marketed online under the Real Time Gaming and Spinlogic Gaming brands.

In a press release published in June last year, PlayCroCo announced himself as offering a game called Wild Hog Luau, where instead of being the pig in a Hawaiian celebration, "players join a group of pigs when they dance the night long On a tropical beach, "and Real Time Gaming were identified as a producer.

Real Time Gaming logo also appeared on the site of two of the 10 sites rated by Guardian, Bovegas and Red Dog Casino.

The brand Real Time Gaming has been linked to the Isle of Man-registered company Endon Technologies, apparently by one of Endon's directors. In an interview published in Casino Life Magazine in September, the director was quoted and said that "Real Time Gaming is and has always been a brand, not a company" and that "Endon as a unit has a license to deliver the content of the RTG mark to 3 . Part B2B or B2C operators ”.

Hong Kong-based RTG slot machines, which markets games including Wild Hog Luau, also claim on their site to be "the Asia-focused trade name for Endon Technologies based on the Isle of Man", and the RTG game logo also appears on Endon's own website.

The director did not respond to the Guardian Australia's comment. Another Endon Director, Tina Rawlinson, strongly denied that Endon had any connection or supplier relationship with the 10 casinos and told the Guardian Australia that "RTG is not a trade name for endon Technologies Limited".

"I want to ask that the wording on the RTG Slots website be corrected," she said. "Similarities in brand abbreviations cannot always be avoided."

Endon has no relationship with spinlogic, she said.

With the names of the 10 casinos evaluated by the Guardian, she said, "I confirm that none of the casinos you have highlighted are run by customers from Endon Technologies Limited."

"Since we have stated that Endon Technologies Limited is not involved in the delivery of games or software to any of the 10 casinos under your spotlight, there can be no purpose to communicate further, except to comment on that it would be legal error ( and potentially libelous) to suggest that endon technologies limited is linked to the ten casinos. "

Spinlogic did not respond to a commentary sent through a form on the site. The company does not make numbers or email addresses on the site, and the Guardian failed to determine where it is based.

There are no accusations from the Guardian Australia about something wrong from Cloudflare, Real Time Gaming, Spinlogic, RTG Slots or Endon Technologies Ltd.

A spokesman for ACMA said the authorities were "clear about the 10 online casino services you have identified and all fall under our priority activities".

"Our focus is on the suppliers of these illegal casino services, as well as support services including software providers and affiliated companies, to disrupt the offering and marketing of these services in the Australian market," he said.

“We continue with the enforcement and disturbance options available. This includes asking Australian Internet providers to block access to these sites. "

ACMA has found that PlayCroco and another of the 10 casinos rated by Guardian, Aussie Play, "operating in violation of the Interactive Gambling Act" and intends to write to Australian Internet suppliers and ask them to block the sites, the spokesman said.

He said ACMA had already asked Internet suppliers to block six more of the sites rated by the Guardian: Two Up Casino, Cherry Gold Casino, True Blue Casino, Bovegas, Xpokies and Red Dog Casino.

ACMA has been investigating Fair Go Casino for well over a year. In November 2019, the Guardian Australia told them that they had identified Deck Media, a company registered at Curaçao, as involved in the operation of the casino.

The Guardian failed to find Deck Media.

"We continue to investigate the supplier/are of the Fair Go Casino service," Acma spokesman said.

When asked if ACMA was frustrated that it had not been able to close Fair Go Casino despite more than a year's investigation, the spokesman said that offshore money games were "a challenging and complex environment to regulate".

“Despite these challenges, ACMA continues with enforcement and disturbance options we have. This now includes blocking websites, which ACMA started in November 2019 [and] which has been effective in disrupting the service. "

He said ACMA was aware that some unlicensed casinos used Australian phone numbers and were able to use the forces to get information about the figures from Telstra.

ACMA was also "aware that some online gaming services contradict IGA uses Cloudflare technology," he said.

"We work with service providers and other stakeholders in the online gambling sector to raise awareness of Australia's legislation on online games to minimize the offer of illegal game services," he said.

A Cloudflare spokeswoman refused to comment.

ACMA's spokesman said that the enforcement program had been successful: "Over 86 % of the services that were delivered illegally withdrew from the Australian market after with ACMA during the investigation or after receiving a formal warning."

Website blocking, which has been going on since November 2019, has been "effective at disturbing games delivered to the Australian market," he said.

“Some of the illegal playing services in which the sites have been blocked have either withdrawn or have done nothing to circumvent the blockades. Others have tried to bypass the blockades by launching mirror sites. We monitor and block mirror sites, sometimes repetitive.

"But even where this cycle is happening, we have found that the blockage is effective in reducing the amount of Australian traffic to the site."