The Ontario Provincial Police cautions public against fraudulent casino ads

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), in collaboration with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), have issued a formal statement to the public in the wake of some concerning fraudulent behavior that has been making rounds on the internet. 

The most recent of these scams stems from a particular social media advertisement that fraudulently utilized the name of an existing casino, Casino Rama, in order to draw unsuspecting players towards a site that was neither owned nor operated by this casino. 

The gambling site that players would be re-directed to was an unlicensed and unregistered online casino that was posing as another well-known gambling establishment.  

Following some concerning reports about these ads, it soon became apparent that, in order to lure players to their online gambling site, this unregistered gambling establishment was utilizing Casino Rama’s name as its bait. 

In light of these fraudulent gambling advertisements, the police force in Ontario, together with the AGCO, have decided to make a formal and public appeal to the general public, cautioning them against the potential dangers that these less-than-honest ads pose to them. 

In a media release, the OPP, together with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, issued the following statement: 

“In Ontario, regulated gaming sites are held to high standards of game integrity, data security, and player protections. Ontario residents who choose to gamble online are being reminded to be aware of such advertisements and to always ensure the gaming site they are playing on is registered with the AGCO.” 

The Investigation and Enforcement Bureau (IEB) forms part of the Ontario Provincial Police, and it is this department that was notified of the suspected fraudulent advertisements being shared on social media. 

In a statement, the Ontario Provincial Police imparted the following cautionary words to the public: 

“Residents of Ontario who opt for online gambling are urged to exercise caution when choosing to access online casino gaming sites found through social media advertisements.” 

These types of ads pose a very real danger to their unsuspecting victims: A fake application pops up when individuals click on the fake ad in question, thus giving away their personal and financial information to an unregistered, and therefore thoroughly unreliable, platform. 

The CGA’s prompt to Meta, urging the platform to do more 

The Canadian Gaming Association (CGA) spoke up on this issue, and in a criticism on the technology giant Meta and its failure to contribute more towards its prevention, Paul Burns, the President of the CGA, made the following statement: 

“Social media platforms are happy to take advertising dollars from licensed, regulated gaming operators but Meta allowing this fraud to carry on for months is intolerable. Virtually every land-based casino brand in the country has had its brand hijacked to promote fraudulent online sites in the past several months.” 

In addition to this, Amanda Brewer, the Senior Advisor at the CGA, made the following statement: 

“Why doesn’t Meta ask for a proof of license (like other online businesses do) before allowing fraudulent sponsored posts to show up on their platforms? I’ve seen these ads pop up on both Instagram and Facebook this week and it’s downright maddening. This is fraud, full stop. Meta needs to come to the table with solutions as people will be taken advantage of and there’s no excuse for allowing this to happen.”