Online casinos are calling Ukrainians en masse: how to deal with it
9 May 2024 17:28
ЕКСКЛЮЗИВ
Recently, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy implemented the decision of the National Security and Defence Council to restrict online gambling, including the restriction of online casino advertising. Earlier, the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries announced the prosecution of outdoor gambling advertising (billboards, radio broadcasts, etc.), after which Ukrainians began to receive massive calls from various online casinos offering promotional codes for free spins and bonuses for registration, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The interlocutors of the journalists emphasise that they have never played in online casinos and have never left their numbers anywhere.
“They call 5-6 times a month, inviting me to play or register. I have never played in an online casino. I don’t understand how these “phone terrorists” got my number and I don’t know who to complain to about them either,”
– said one of the interlocutors of the publication.
According to them, the most active caller is Slots City online casino. They call, most often, from local numbers, for example, from the number 380 44 321-19-78, which, according to the Getcontact app, belongs to casinos that, according to the app’s users, are fraudsters.
According to Danylo Hetmantsev, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, Ukrainians who receive such calls can contact KRAIL.
“Let them contact KRAIL. The Commission will assess these actions on the part of the gambling organiser and may impose sanctions on it,” he said,
– he said.
MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak stressed that people who receive calls from online casinos can also contact the National Police if they receive calls from fraudsters.
It should be noted that in 2023, the top 10 most successful gambling companies in Ukraine earned UAH 54.92 billion. This is 28 times more than a year earlier – UAH 1.94 billion.
We would like to add that Pavel Petrichenko, a soldier of the 59th Brigade, registered a petition demanding to restrict the operation of online casinos. In a few hours, it gained the required 25,000 signatures for consideration.
The author of the petition asked Volodymyr Zelenskyy to submit an urgent bill to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine that would provide for
- a ban on gambling and access to online casinos for military personnel during martial law;
- a ban on gambling advertising using the symbols of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and any symbols or objects related to war and the army, such as uniforms, helmets, machines, etc;
- a ban for charitable foundations to cooperate with gambling market participants;
- prohibition for military units to accept property in the form of charitable aid from gambling market participants or related individuals or legal entities;
- prohibition of any advertising or public references to the fact that gambling market participants provide charitable assistance to military personnel;
- prohibiting pawnshops from accepting drones, thermal imagers and other similar dual-use goods;
- obligation of Internet providers and mobile operators to block websites of illegal casinos.
On 28 March, MP Oleksiy Honcharenko wrote that nine out of 10 soldiers on the front line have problems with casinos or betting (money betting). The MP did not specify the source of such statistics.
In 2023, Ukrainians spent almost 400 million hryvnias daily in online casinos, or more than 12 billion per month. The military is most often affected by this industry, which then suffers from “ludomania” (gambling addiction).
It is worth noting that the number of ludomaniacs – people who have limited access to gambling facilities and participation in gambling – is growing year by year. Currently, there are 3,871 people in the register of problem gamblers in Ukraine. Over the past year, the number of people on the list has increased eightfold.
The register has been in existence for three years. The overwhelming majority of problem gamblers (87%) were included in the list in 2023.
Currently, there are three ways for Ukrainians to be included in the Register of Problematic Gamblers
- by applying for self-restriction,
- by the decision of the CRAIL on the basis of a request for restriction from relatives,
- by a court decision.
- Thus, Ukraine has no clear statistics on the actual number of citizens with gambling addiction, and the figures from the relevant register do not reflect the full picture.
For gambling addicts in Ukraine, only temporary bans on visiting gambling venues are provided for – for a period of 6 months to 3 years. Upon expiration, these restrictions are automatically terminated.
Author: Alyona Kaplina
