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Online casinos in Ukraine are becoming an increasing threat, especially to the military. Under the constant stress of battle, many defenders look for ways to distract themselves, and
Online casinos in Ukraine are becoming an increasing threat, especially to the military. Under the constant stress of battle, many defenders look for ways to distract themselves, and gambling seems like an easy way to “start over.” But instead of relief, they often experience more problems.
The real danger is the financial trap. Military personnel, many of whom earn more than they do in civilian life, can quickly get into debt through gambling. This not only affects the wallet, but also creates additional stress, which affects their morale and relationships with siblings and relatives.
At the end of March, Pavlo Petrychenko, a soldier from the 59th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, registered a petition on the president’s website calling for restrictions on the operation of online casinos, in particular, a ban on access to them by military personnel. during martial law. Unfortunately, Pavlo died at the front on April 15, but his initiative became an impetus for change. The petition received more than 26,000 votes, and President Volodymyr Zelensky instructed the relevant authorities to resolve this issue in detail.
Already on April 20, NSDC decided to combat the negative consequences of online casino activities. The President immediately implemented this decision. At the same time, online casinos still exist that take advantage of human weaknesses. Casinos buy media, business and even police sites of occupied cities, so they have resources and a link base that are indexed in search engines. This allows them to deceive more people.
Like 24 Channels revealed a new online casino plan – read our article.
Like any online media, the 24 Channels website contains thousands of links on its pages to other media, businesses and partners. Typically, such connections must be maintained for years if the media or business is to continue operating. But in October this year, the editors received a letter from a reader. It was noted that the link to the “Ukrainian Philanthropic Forum” in the 2016 material led to the website of the online casino.
Following the appeal, editors monitored all links on the site, identifying links that had changed over time. We are talking about sites that stopped paying the domain owner and were bought by online casinos. Especially:
Site of Mariupol police leading to a fraudulent “skirmish game”
For the safety of readers and the rules of the Gambling and Lotteries Regulatory Commission, the 24 Kanal site does not provide direct links to online casinos.
This year, gambling advertising was finally banned in Ukraine. Resolution 566, which provides for these changes, was adopted by the government on May 17 to implement the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine. This document defines the procedure for restricting gambling activities on the Internet.
Now one of the links to the casino is the Russian version of the Ukrinform agency. The media stopped updating the Russian version of the site (ukrinform.ru) on February 6, 2023. It was transferred to the Telegram channel, which is currently not working.
Channel 24 approached Ukrinform General Director Serhiy Cherevaty for comment.
The Russian version of the site is closed, payments are not made. The attacker also constantly launches cyber attacks on the agency’s website.
Cherevaty explained in the comment.
Since the rejection of the Russian version of the media took place before Serhii Cherevaty took office, Ukrinform did not disclose details of how the site got rid of the Russian domain name. However, it is clear that the empty domain name was purchased for fraudulent purposes.
Among others, the list of links includes the website of the national police in Mariupol, Donetsk region, temporarily occupied by Russia. Physically, the Mariupol National Police ceased its activities during the occupation of the city at the beginning of the large-scale occupation. The police website – mariupol-police.dn.ua – now redirects to a Russian-language online casino.
Channel 24 asked the cyber police for information about whether the cyber police had information about the hack, loss of access or end of support for the Mariupol police website, but did not immediately receive a response.
Another “victim” of the buyback of an online casino is the website of the project “I, Nina” by journalist Yanina Sokolova. The multimedia project includes the film of the same name, which will be released in 2023 and tells the story of Sokolova’s fight against cancer.
Links to Yanina.life can be found in 2019 Facebook posts. But the links now lead to online casinos.
Channel 24 asked Yanina Sokolova how long ago the “I, Nina” website stopped being updated, but did not receive an answer.
Domain names on the internet have become an asset that can be bought and sold like securities or cryptocurrency. This activity is associated with the so-called reducers (Eng. drip catchers), can be considered a type of cyber invader. Its main working principle is to register attractive domain names with the aim of selling them further for significant amounts.
One prominent example is OpenAI CEO Sam Altman purchasing a domain name for $10 million. Another example is the story of the domain name Google.com, which was purchased for a nominal sum for a minute.
Drop-catchers work with domains that have stopped working properly for various reasons, usually due to late payment. They monitor such situations with automated tools to intervene before the previous owner of the domain has time to renew. Everyone then uses these domain names at their own discretion: some resell them to competitors, some use them for illegal projects, taking advantage of the temporary authority of the domain name, and some take them for personal purposes.
Domain names that have been around for a long time, have a good reputation and have links from other sources are especially valuable. Sometimes discounters even offer to buy the domain back to the previous owner, but at a much higher price, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars depending on value.
In March 2024, Pavlo Petrychenko, a soldier of the 59th Brigade of the Armed Forces who died in battle in April, registered a petition on the website of the President of Ukraine. He suggested limiting the military’s access to gambling, banning the use of Armed Forces symbols in advertising by gambling establishments, and making charities cooperate with gambling organisers. This initiative aroused great public interest and collected more than 26,000 signatures in half a day; this number exceeds the minimum number of signatures required for the president to consider.
There are rare cases when game-addicted soldiers spend all their money on games and take out microloans, putting themselves and their families in a “debt pit”, or pawn drones and thermal imaging cameras, harming not only themselves but also their comrades. . Gambling companies exploit this vulnerability by deliberately targeting military personnel, using Armed Forces symbols in their online casinos, and “laundering” their operations with small charitable donations to the Armed Forces.
– said Petrichenko in his petition.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy supported the petition and instructed the relevant authorities to look into the matter. In April, the National Security and Defense Council decided to combat the negative consequences of online gambling. The decision, implemented by presidential decree, envisages a ban on military access to casinos and participation in gambling during martial law, restricting advertising of such services and increasing control over the activities of gambling organizers.
The Ministry of Health was also tasked with developing a protocol for the treatment of gambling addiction, while social services were tasked with creating rehabilitation mechanisms for gambling victims. The Security Service of Ukraine is tasked with inspecting gambling organizers for compliance with Ukrainian sanctions legislation
In the spring, the Attorney General’s Office reported that more than 2,500 gambling sites were blocked. As of April 2024, more than 450 criminal cases related to illegal gambling organization have been investigated. While a criminal complaint was filed against 21 people, an indictment was sent to the court against 72 people, 68 of whom were members of an organized crime group.
In 2023 alone, 169 crimes were recorded in this area. Law enforcement reported suspects to 74 people and sent 52 indictments to the court against 97 people. As part of the investigations, more than 7,000 pieces of equipment were seized, nearly 500 searches and nearly 700 objects were examined. The activities of 10 casinos were closed and 10 cases involving 42 members of criminal organizations were referred to court.
The attorney general has been informed that more than 2,500 illegal sites that regulate gambling or host unlicensed online casinos have been blocked. Large companies that may be involved in illegal activities also came into the purview of the prosecutor’s office. In particular, the case of legalization of income from online casinos in the amount of 4.8 billion hryvnia is being investigated.
Not possible without Russian capital. The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office reported a legal entity under the sanctions and control of Russian-funded structures. Participants of the scheme organized illegal betting activities on the basis of an international platform. This not only violates Ukrainian legislation, but also poses a risk to national security.
Source: 24 Tv
John Wilkes is a seasoned journalist and author at Div Bracket. He specializes in covering trending news across a wide range of topics, from politics to entertainment and everything in between.
