Hong Kong police arrested several KOLs on suspicion of "promoting or facilitating the acceptance of bets," and local "internet celebrities" seem to have become wary of promoting gambling groups on the periphery. However, many KOLs in Asia continue to attract "fans" from various regions to open accounts and place bets, as local laws do not prohibit such promotional activities.
Young people may be influenced to participate in illegal gambling after seeing related information on social media.
Recently, searches on social media platforms like Instagram revealed numerous attractive female KOLs promoting gambling websites and online "entertainment cities" that package gambling activities as games. One such Taiwanese beauty KOL, who has about 9,000 "fans" and 6,000 "followers," recently posted a sexy short video of herself in a bathtub on her IG story. Next to the video was information about a car racing gambling game, with a comment stating she made a profit of 3,425 New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 850 Hong Kong Dollars), adding "I'm going to sleep happily now!"
In another photo, a Taiwanese "IG goddess" wearing a tube top with "XXX Entertainment City" printed above her chest is seen holding a smartphone. The screen displays the homepage of the "entertainment city," and the message indicates that registering as a member allows one to receive "trial money." By entering her dealer number, additional "benefits" can be obtained, along with a link to the "entertainment city" website. A simple tap on the smartphone screen allows for registration and betting on football matches, Mark Six, eSports, and online casino games.
In Malaysia, a beautiful KOL promotes a gambling website claiming to be the "top choice racing platform in Singapore and Malaysia," mentioning "free live streaming," "racing TIPS," "high odds," and also accepting cryptocurrency deposits, along with a link to the gambling website.
KOLs reveal three methods of collaboration with bookmakers: the first is profit sharing, where bookmakers give commissions based on the amount of money deposited by gamblers recruited by the KOL, with commissions ranging from 2% to 5% depending on the number of social media followers; the more popular the KOL, the higher the commission.
The second method is through advertising fees per post, with "internet celebrities" generally receiving 3,000 Hong Kong Dollars per post.
The third method is a monthly salary system, where some bookmakers attract internet celebrities to promote with a base salary of 30,000 Hong Kong Dollars per month.
According to the Asian Racing Federation, since the second half of 2019, the promotion of illegal gambling through social media apps in Hong Kong has been very active, even reaching a flooding level. Bookmakers mainly use instant messaging platforms, including WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal, to send messages directly, complemented by major social media advertising on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
