Gambling fraud 2026: how scammers rob players
Over the past couple of years, the online casino industry has changed beyond recognition, and along with it, the appetites of scammers have grown. The number of gambling scams has nearly doubled. According to analysts, more than 80% of gaming platforms are constantly fighting off harsh cyberattacks. Scammers now use neural networks, build traps in Telegram, and manage to extract hundreds of millions of dollars from regular players.
Deepfakes and fake apps: a new level of scamming
The primary weapon of scammers right now is artificial intelligence. With its help, they create exact copies of famous casinos in just a couple of minutes, translate texts into any language, and make bots communicate with people in support chats. The number of fake videos and deepfakes has grown by an insane 700%. Scammers generate videos where supposedly famous influencers talk about secret winning schemes, and use fake support services to trick players out of their personal data.
The most effective scheme for fraudsters is fake mobile applications. They create programs that look exactly like the official apps of major casinos and promote them through aggressive social media advertising. The campaigns deployed are massive: specialists discover thousands of fake websites and apps. When a person downloads such an app and starts playing, they are initially intentionally allowed to win a little on low stakes to let their guard down. But as soon as the player funds their balance with a large amount, they are instantly blocked.
Telegram scams and money mules
Another method is scams involving tasks in Telegram bots. People are offered easy earnings for simple clicks or subscriptions, and are then dragged to a fake gambling website. There, they are required to make a deposit to claim the money they earned. In 2025, such funnels fleeced gullible users out of more than $220 million.
"Right now, it is no longer enough for scammers to just steal money — they need to launder it. Previously, they used regular bank cards registered to drops for transit, but banks have learned to block them quickly. Therefore, scammers have switched to legitimate bookmakers and TSUPIS wallets. The scheme is simple: a person receives a call disguised as a marketplace courier, tricks them into giving an SMS code to confirm the order, while the code itself actually comes from the bookmaker at that moment. Next, using the full name, date of birth, and leaked passport data, a shadow account is registered in the victim's name. Through these personal accounts, fraudsters cycle millions, masking stolen money as legitimate betting winnings. Tracking such a chain of transfers becomes significantly harder for security teams," — Igor Bederov, Director of the Investigations Department at T.Hunter.
Basic digital literacy online is not excessive paranoia, but a safety rule. To avoid becoming a victim of scammers, it is enough to follow three simple rules: always verify the platform's license, never send codes and personal data in messaging apps, and forget about any "guaranteed winning schemes" once and for all.
