Last night (July 15) was the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia and football enthusiasts everywhere were watching the match breathlessly to see who would take the cup home. Meanwhile, it is during this time that many illegal gambling syndicates would take advantage of the World Cup and encourage people to place their bets.
Source: Oriental Daily
According to Oriental Daily, just for the final match alone, many gamblers decided to increase their bets as it was the last game and they wanted to recoup any losses they incurred over the past month. It is believed that the amount of bets for the final match between France and Croatia last night amounted to over RM10 million. Only for one match!
Oriental Daily approached one of the customer service staff for a gambling website who told them that they received a large amount of bets from outside Malaysia as well. The staff said that a lot of these bets came from countries such as Singapore and China, with the Chinese placing the highest amounts so far.
Source: HK Silicon
Apparently, the Chinese would place bets ranging from RM5,000 to RM20,000 while the average amount that Malaysians would bet ranges from RM500 to RM5,000. That’s a big difference! “Chinese gamblers are very daring. Whenever we announce the odds in WeChat, they will make the payment through Alipay if they are okay with it,” the staff explained.
The staff also said that the syndicate had all their employees working overtime to cope with the increased demand as the police had arrested some of their colleagues, leaving them short of manpower. The employees were promised generous bonuses after the finals if they agreed to do so.
Source: Seehua
Previously, NST reported that the police had busted a World Cup gambling syndicate who had more than 6,800 customers. They had raided three premises in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru on July 6 to nab the culprits behind the gambling syndicates who used social media to attract gamblers.
Ever since the launch of Operasi Soga 2018, Federal Police Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd said that they have conducted 499 raids and arrested 589 bookies aged between 20 and 45. “Sports betting is a threat to the integrity of sports bodies that resulted in involvement of players and referees in match fixing,” he added.
Don’t gamble, peeps! It’s not worth it!
Also read: Police: Malaysians Who Gamble During Chinese New Year Will Be Locked Up
