Police apprehend criminal ring targeting teens with illegal gambling websites

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Police apprehend criminal ring targeting teens with illegal gambling websites

Published: 18 Oct. 2024, 11:55

Image of a poker game [GETTY IMAGES]

A criminal ring that operated illegal gambling websites targeting teenagers was apprehended by police.

The cyber investigation office of the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency announced on Friday that they had arrested 10 people and detained nine of them on charges of operating gambling websites.

According to police, the gambling ring targeted teenagers with nine simple, gamified gambling websites, where participants could deposit money into an account and receive game currency in return.

The gambling ring provided game currency worth up to 500 billion won ($364 million) through the gambling websites and used around 10,000 deposit accounts for operations. The police analyzed the deposit accounts and confirmed that 171 teenagers participated in the gambling activities.

Investigations into the remaining accounts are still ongoing.

The police began the investigation in January after finding an online post that stated, "There is a friend who is demanding gambling money from my son, who attends middle school in Daejeon." They subsequently located the gambling site’s operation office and arrested the main operator and those supplying the ghost accounts. Police also applied for a preservation order of 353 million won in criminal proceeds.

A police official stated, "Many students accessed the sites out of curiosity after being encouraged by friends." The gambling ring deliberately created simpler games to draw in teenagers, such as football betting, "odd or even" games and ladder games.

Among the teenagers caught by police, 163 were high school students and eight were middle school students. Police explained that due to the simplicity of the games, many students accessed the sites even during their breaks at school.

The investigation revealed that the student who gambled the largest amount lost 12 million won.

Police filed criminal charges against five students who deposited more than 5 million won or were repeat offenders, while 35 were sent to summary judgment and 131 were let off with a warning. Police plan to refer all the students who gambled to a guidance committee for review and connect them with the Korea Problem Gambling Agency for rehabilitation.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]