Police nab over 1,000 teens during online gambling crackdown

SEOUL: Police have nabbed 2,925 people, including over 1,000 teenagers, during a six-month crackdown on online gambling targeting adolescents, officials said yesterday.

The National Office of Investigation said 1,035 teens have been rounded up and 566 of them have been referred to counseling centres, while 75 adults were formally arrested and 61.9 billion won (US$45 million) in criminal proceeds was confiscated during the crackdown from Sept 25 to March 31, Yonhap news agency reported.

Of the teenagers, 12 were accused of operating online gambling sites.

By age groups, 798 high school students, 228 middle school students and seven university students were among those caught. Two elementary schoolers were also included, with a nineyear-old who betted 10,000 won found to be the youngest.

Many middle and high school students had dipped their hands in gambling sites through invitations from friends, according to police. They were mostly lured into gambling through smartphone messages, along with online and social media ads.

By type of gambling, 434 teens, or 41.9 per cent of the total, said they played baccarat, followed by sports gambling, which recorded 19.8 per cent, casino at 17.1 per cent and powerball or slot machines accounted for 14.7 per cent.

Police said the simple registration process that allows teens to charge gambling funds with only their bank account under their name is one of the reasons online gambling is catching on among teenagers, along with the wrong perception that views gambling as a game, according to Yonhap.

Police plan to resume the sixmonth crackdown starting in May, and will clamp down on illegal harmful content online and expand training to prevent gambling-related crimes.