Hijacked Websites on the Internet Start Spreading Gambling Content

The BNR, a radio station in the Netherlands, has raised the alarm over a new practice that has been leading to more people being bombarded with illegal gambling offers. Once Authority Websites Are Hijacked to Support Gambling Messaging The radio station discovered a simple practice: expired domains taken over by various organizations, including hackers, turn once-truthful websites into a springboard for illegal gambling. According to the BNR, there may be 1,000 legitimate Dutch and European such websites. Whether those are niche hobby websites, news websites, or blogs, abandoned by their original owners for whatever reason, these domains have been taken over by more suspicious groups and companies. These parties then begin to populate the otherwise high-value domains with gambling content that could often lead consumers to unlicensed gambling websites, or, to be more specific, websites not licensed in the jurisdictions they target. A website licensed in Curaçao, for example, may be thus promoted to Dutch customers, as the radio station notes, which would be illegal when the Netherlands’ gambling laws are applied. In addition, the real figure of such websites may be underestimated by a factor of 8. In other words, there could be 8,000 or more such websites, taken over by such parties and propagating illegal gambling content in regulated jurisdictions across the European Union. There is added difficulty in policing such domains, as the websites themselves are already whitelisted and trusted by search engines that do not immediately catch up to what is going on. A reputable website is now pushing illegal gambling content but this does not trigger an immediate response. The Issue Is Serious and the Loophole Created – Insurmountable Right Now Websites run by lawyers and broadcasters may also be targeted if their domains lapse. The Dutch Gaming Regulator (KSA) has not minced its words and stated outright that this constitutes a serious problem because this practice also creates another legal challenge. While the KSA may go after websites that are dedicated to gambling and illegally market to customers in certain jurisdictions, these other websites that are hijacked lie outside the regulator’s remit. They are not really gambling domains, and this creates a particular headache for the KSA – how to take down the website of a broadcaster even though it is clear that the broadcaster is not using it any longer. At least in the Netherlands, lawmakers and regulators have paid heed and are working to now try and secure assistance from Google.