Battling illegal online gambling, saving society and people from its evil effects.

 COMMENTARY

Aldwin Quitasol

BAGUIO CITY -- Every human being in my point of view needs money most especially at this time that almost all must be paid before they can be utilized, from food, to services, to securities among others.
    Many people if not most, love money. In many chances, many individuals said love of money is the root of all evil. That’s what they see.
    What I prefer to say is that love of money is all but natural for every human being especially the poor because it will feed them. But the greed of more money can lead to destruction of values, lives and practically everything that humans have, and so, they have to find ways to make them not only rich but richer or the richest in the community.
    People resort to gambling hoping that they will double, triple or more their money. For them, sadly, many of them are from poor families see gambling as their way to get easy money.
    There are countless studies where the ill effects of gambling ruin lives. But even without reading such studies or listening to stories of people suffering from downfall because of being addicted to gambling. Gambling knows no boundaries and nationalities, as it is a global menace, a disease, that some people simply see it as bad habit.
    Since time immemorial, many people were hooked up to excessive and uncontrollable gambling in any forms. At present times, the vice many people of the world loves levelled-up by thousand times because of the advancement of the technology developed by humans.
    With the birth of the internet and growing dependency of most people on it, gambling addicts, promoters among others see internet as a perfect tool to make people gamble without physically engaging them wherever they are and whenever they want.
    And with the birth of the online casino in the 1990’s, the online gambling spread like a fire in every internet place, in every home, in every country or in any corner of the world where internet access is available.
    And because online gambling makes the betting faster and easier as anybody who knows how to operate internet-connected personal desktop computers, laptop computers, mobile phones and any possible device can join the game.
    Compared to going to casinos where people who want to gamble there need to show that they have capital money to use in betting. In online gambling, farmers, workers and vendors among others who have no luxury of going to the gambling houses can gamble.
    There are few online gambling sites that are legal however and not all can gamble unless they passed the requirements being asked by the said sites. These sites are sanctioned by the government or some of them are being operated by the government itself.
    And because they are legitimate as they are registered, they follow legal rules and regulations that are designed to protect the people. And regulatory fees are required both from the bettors and the online gambling sites operators and owners.
    And huge chunk from the income of these legal gambling sites go to charity as well as social services. 
    Then people who see the potentials of online gambling in hauling gigantic profits. So illegal online gambling sites sprouted in the internet. And because there are no regulations that the operators must follow as they are unregistered, and unmonitored by the authorities, anybody can join without hesitations.
    The rich who love going illegal instead of doing good things, the poor ones who love to win instantly and even the children who most of them are high-technology savvy can also bet.
    Only the owners of these illegal gambling sites benefit from their illegal activities. The victims are the people who are addicted to the false promises that they offer. 
    Instead of people using their money especially those who have online banking accounts to use them for their necessities, they are lured by the attractive games of illegal online gambling sites until these people empty their accounts due to unhampered betting as they win few times and collect huge amounts of prize moneys but loss more money as the greed of having more and more prize money occupied their minds.
    One of the many dangers of online gambling is that gamblers are electronically betting their money from their online accounts using  computers and mobile phones.
    Thus they are vulnerable to online fraud and thieves employing phishing, siphoning of funds electronically and many other forms of online theft and robbery. Online blackmailing is also rampant as many people are being victims of extortion where they are asked to pay by the millions or else, they would face consequences.
    Most cases lead to violence and even death as people who went bankrupt because of unhampered betting in illegal online gambling are forced to borrow money and incur huge amounts of debt just to continue their online betting, are being kidnapped by people who caused their bankruptcy.
    Before, during and after the pandemic, illegal online gambling continues to victimize people. If there are no serious measures done and fearless crackdown against these illegal online gambling sites, the menace continues.
    Governments of nations must do something as illegal online gambling sites are not just in one country, they are all over the globe. A global war should be unleashed against illegal online gambling. And that requires international cooperation.
    Every human being who is at his or her proper senses, should also contribute to the initiatives to end illegal online gambling by discouraging people who they know are being lured by the attractive offers of illegal online gambling sites. People should remind people that illegal things are bad and must end.