Bookies using Facebook and WhatsApp to lure punters
by Elynur Saad
7 June 2012 8:15 PM | Updated 8:19 PM
Football bookies are now advertising their illegal business through WhatsApp messages to random mobile numbers.
In the messages, the bookie apparently invites the phone users to illegally engage in football betting services provided for the upcoming Euro 2012 tournament, according to The Straits Times.
Anyone who responds to the message will be asked to make a bank transfer of a minimum of $50 to the bookmarker’s account.
In exchange for the $50, the interested party will be given access to a football betting website.
An avid soccer fan, who only wanted to be known as Mr Teo, told inSing News that he received a similar WhatsApp message during the World Cup in 2010 and is very much aware of such tactics being used.
“I place my bets with Singapore Pools but if I were to do it illegally, I would place it with someone I trust rather than (with) a stranger who WhatsApp messaged me,” he said.
Another WhatsApp user, Hanyang Lin, who has received such messages, also said that he would never respond to such invitations “due to the fact that (the message) comes from a stranger.”
“It’s similar to not answering unknown calls and SMSes, even more so if the message is trying to get you involved in illicit activities,” he said.
The 21-year-old added that he had also received Facebook messages urging him to partake in illegal betting.
“The messages I received on Facebook would ask if I wanted an online betting account and included a number to contact if interested. (This) has been going on for quite a while, especially during big sporting events, not only soccer.”
If guilty, illegal bookmarkers can face a fine ranging between $20,000 and $200,000 and face a jail sentence of up to five years. Those who are guilty of placing illegal bets can be fined a maximum of $5,000 and/or face a six month jail sentence.
