Attorney General Jeff Jackson and a group of 50 bipartisan attorneys general are asking the U.S. Department of Justice to do more to address the spread of illegal offshore gambling operations.
The gambling platforms are often unlicensed and run by major foreign companies, frequently violate state and federal law, and don’t provide adequate consumer protections. Illegal online gaming exceeds more than $400 billion in volume every year, which means states are losing more than $4 billion in tax revenue.
“These addictive gambling schemes are illegal and have no guardrails to protect consumers from getting scammed,” said Jackson. “We’re asking for the federal government’s help to crack down on these criminal operations so we can keep North Carolinians safe.”
Jackson said he is concerned about the harm to North Carolinians, particularly to young people, vulnerable adults, and the state’s economy. Illegal online sports betting and gaming operations are largely operated by foreign-based companies that operate without proper licensure, offer limited or non-existent consumer protections, fail to effectively verify the age of users, ignore state boundaries, and evade tax obligations. They’ve been linked to serious crimes such as money laundering and human trafficking.
Jackson is asking the federal government to work with the states and get more aggressive in taking down these unlawful gambling networks by:
- Pursuing injunctive relief under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act to block access to illegal websites and payment processing mechanisms related to illicit gaming operations
- Seizing assets – including servers, websites, domains, and proceeds – used by gaming operators that violate state and federal law
- Coordinating with states, financial institutions, and payment processors to block unlawful transactions and dismantle financial infrastructure related to illegal gaming operations
Attorney General Jackson is joined in sending this letter to the U.S. Department of Justice by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Northern Marian Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
