One More Scam To Beware: Galaxy Entertainment Online Gambling Websites

Article by : Helen Sep 28, 2020

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Online scams are as old as the Internet itself. They may be awaiting you at every corner of the online space, and you are likely to encounter (and possibly fall victim to) at least one scam in your life. And if you are an online gambling fan, we’ve got one more scam you should be aware of if you don’t want to become scammers’ prey.

Galaxy Entertainment, a Macau casino operator, has recently issued an official statement to settle one thing once and for all: it doesn’t operate or have any affiliation with online gambling websites. The company also explicitly states that it has not authorized any other company or website to act on their behalf.

In other words, if you stumble upon an online gambling website that promotes itself using the Galaxy Entertainment brand, it’s a scam – the company itself didn’t have anything to do with that website. In this case, don’t enter any sensitive information on that website (like payment details, for example) and, as Galaxy Entertainment suggests, report this website either to law enforcement or their customer support.

And, of course, in case you do fall victim to such a scam website, Galaxy Entertainment is determined to distance itself from the matter and explicitly states: it will not be held accountable for any losses you may suffer as a result of the scammers’ actions.

Galaxy Entertainment Group is a casino operator with three properties located in Macau, a special administrative district of China: Galaxy Macau, Broadway Macau, and StarWorld Hotel. Macau, along with Hong Kong, is the only part of China where gambling is permitted due to the regions’ special status within the country.

Macau is the number one in the world when it comes to casino gaming revenues: its 41 casinos got $37.6 billion in revenues in 2018 – three times more than Nevada’s casinos. However, it was hit hard by the COVID-19-related shutdowns and restrictions, like the rest of the world, and is estimated to have lost US$1 billion in just three months, from April to June.

As for mainland China, gambling there has been prohibited since 1949, which laid the ground for the offshore gambling industry currently blooming in neighboring countries like Vietnam, the Philippines, and Cambodia. In these countries, some casinos are located close to the border with China and market their services to the Chinese population.

In an attempt to curb this trend, China has prepared a blacklist of tourist destinations that are considered to “endanger the safety of Chinese nationals.” It is not clear how this blacklist will work, as the Chinese government has not provided any specific information about it.

Online gambling is another outlet for those Chinese citizens keen on playing games of chance. While the Great Firewall of China effectively blocks gambling platforms, they can still be accessed with a VPN. Most of them are reported to be based in the Philippines. The total amount of bets placed by the Chinese illegally gambling is estimated to be around $145 billion, which is a clear sign there is a demand for this industry.

In June 2018, the Chinese government also banned all online poker games, prompting app stores to delete any poker application available there and all social media to forbid advertising online poker websites. Flutter Entertainment Pic also had to reexamine its operations and eventually withdrew its PokerStars business from China earlier this year.