Internet Gambling
Time to Get Tougher With Mushrooming Illegal Sites
The Internet has become part of our daily life. We cannot overestimate the importance of the Internet and cyberspace. But such a useful and effective means of online communication could pose a serious threat to individuals, society and the nation. One example of the threat is online gambling. In South Korea, gambling is illegal, although permitted in a few authorized casinos at certain locations. However online gambling sites are mushrooming to prey on Internet users by using legal loopholes and loose surveillance.
The National Police Agency rounded up 1,681 people for Internet gambling during a one-month special crackdown that started Oct. 18. The figure was six times higher than the 248 a year before. The agency said 113 are suspected of operating online gambling sites, while 525 are allegedly illegal cyber-money dealers. It added 1,058 were caught gambling. Seventy percent of the gamblers were in their 30s and 40s and 89 percent were male, while 731 of them were jobless. Police have taken action to shut down 729 gambling sites.
More serious is that Internet gambling is rapidly spreading to ordinary citizens, especially low-income earners and the unemployed. It is presumed that online gambling is enjoying a ``boom" in the aftermath of an economic slowdown. The police station in North Chungcheong Province arrested four people and booked 36 others for operating an illegal gambling site, which made about 100 billion won ($68 million) in illegal profit over the past year.
Even more surprising is that the representative of the site, identified by his surname Kim, 36, had behaved like a successful IT venture businessman. He has led a double life by working as a director of five civic organizations, including an environmental group. Besides, he donated part of his ill-gotten money to charities and a high school he graduated from. He has been good at camouflaging his gambling business.
Kim and other gambling site operators have falsely reported that their Internet servers were located overseas in a bid to avoid crackdowns by local law enforcement agencies. They have dispatched their employees to China and other countries to operate call centers, exchange cyber money through Internet banking and send spam mails to solicit members. They have become more sophisticated to outmaneuver investigators.
Online gambling is much more risky and addictive than conventional gambling. Internet users may think that the odds are 50:50. But experts say that the chances of winning are less than 5 percent. Kang Byung-kyu, a baseball player-turned TV show host, has allegedly gambled habitually through the Internet and lost 400 million won. He is just another one of those trying in vain to make a big fortune in one stroke.
Law enforcement authorities must step up their efforts to root out online gambling. They are also required to wage an awareness campaign to publicize the destructive nature of Internet gambling. More important is that Internet users should not fall into temptation to log on to gambling sites.