Case Explained: Crime and Corruption in Sport and Gaming — FBI – Legal Perspective

Even as sports betting becomes legalized across the country, the illegal and unregulated sports betting market in the United States is still robust. It is critical for bettors to understand and adhere to applicable laws within their respective area.

Online illegal sportsbooks may look legitimate and can be found with a simple online search. These sportsbooks may be legal for bettors in other countries, but not in the United States. It is the responsibility of each bettor to ensure they wager legally and responsibly.

The American Gaming Association estimates Americans bet nearly $64 billion with illegal online sportsbooks and bookies. Criminals use illegal sportsbooks for a variety of reasons, to include tax evasion, ease of entry, and the lack of reporting requirements and betting limits. Organized crime groups often use the money made from illegal gambling to fund other criminal activities, like the trafficking of humans, drugs, and weapons.

Placing a wager with illegal sportsbooks puts individuals at risk of extortion and threats of violence, which bookmakers may use to collect debts.

Game Manipulation

Athletes, officials, and staff are vulnerable to game manipulation approaches by criminal actors who seek to fraudulently profit off the betting market. Game manipulation, AKA match-fixing, is the act of arranging the outcome or specific play of a competition prior to the event taking place. Criminal actors seek to exploit a person’s vulnerabilities, to include financial need, substance abuse, and history of problem gambling, to get an athlete or official to cooperate.