Beware if you are betting this March Madness: Here’s how to spot online gambling frauds
Here’s how you can keep an eye out for gambling fraud during this busy betting period of the year.
Betting has never been easier. No longer do you have to queue up in the dingy rooms of the local betting shop and hand over a piece of paper with your hopes and dreams scribbled down in pencil. Gambling money on sports can be done from the comfort of your own home, with more movement needed to play tennis on the Nintendo Wii.
With this ease of access come plenty of dangers. Addiction is a real problem in today’s society and the sheer amount of betting advertisements and temptations continues to grow.
As well as that, there are plenty of people who look to take advantage of unaware customers who place bets, especially during the busiest times of year.
March Madness is certainly one of those times, and this year it is estimated that over $3 billion will be spent on bets placed on the action as it unfolds.
I urge to listen to this, especially if you’re struggling with gambling. Trevor and I spoke about online sports betting. Some of you know I lost my brother to suicide because of his addiction to it. After hearing that, Trevor stopped accepting betting companies as advertisers on… pic.twitter.com/NIHDFnDJxV
— Khaya Dlanga (@khayadlanga) March 23, 2025
‘Go with the well-known sport websites, the ones that you see on TV’
Kevin Gosschalk, CEO of cybersecurity firm Arkose Labs, explained to CBS that is it indeed online gambling where the dangers are greatest: “We’re in March Madness, so it’s peak season for scams, fake websites, and fake apps being set up to lure you to put money into them, claiming you’re going to win big. And then of course it’s a rug pull — there’s no money to be gained.”
“If you’re intending to gamble, go with the well-known sport websites, the ones that you see on TV, the ones that you see advertising in media. Those are most likely to be legitimate websites,” Gosschalk conluded.
CBS highlight a report of a man named Ricardo Rivera, who believed he had won big on a crypto-gambling site called SpinMe.club.
“I basically hit the biggest jackpot that they have, and it was $4 million,” Rivera told the news outlet. After winning the huge sum of money, Rivera was then told to pay an extra one thousand dollars to cover what the site called ‘taxes’: “Right there” he replied when asked if he knew. “Right when they said you need to deposit $1,000."
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Gambling is a serious issue and should always be done responsibly. The National Problem Gambling Helpline offers call, text and chat services 24/7/365 and can be reached on 1-800-GAMBLER.
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