The trick will connect: users have become more likely to be deceived in fake online casinos
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- The trick will connect: users have become more likely to be deceived in fake online casinos
Russians are increasingly becoming victims of fraudulent websites masquerading as online casinos. In the first two months of 2026 alone, the damage from such resources has already exceeded the figures for the same period last year by about 19%. According to experts, we are talking about millions of rubles, and in some cases, the total loss of users can reach tens of millions. At the same time, over 17,000 fake online casino sites have been registered since the beginning of the year, as people rely on gift codes and bonuses to try their luck. What other schemes are used by scammers and how to protect yourself from them — in the Izvestia article.
How fraud schemes work
Users lose money in fraudulent schemes due to online casino bonuses, gift deposits and promo codes: they often become the main bait for gullible citizens, Igor Bederov, head of the Internet Search company, told Izvestia.
— The most dangerous schemes are those with so-called free initial deposits and exclusive promo codes. The user activates the promo code and sees several thousand rubles "donated" on the account. He makes bets, maybe even "win". However, when trying to withdraw money, the system blocks the operation. According to our estimates, the damage from such sites in January and February 2026 already exceeds the figures for the same period in 2025 by 19%," the expert explained.
According to him, such sites are often created not only for direct theft of funds, but also for collecting bank card data and digital fingerprints of users — information about the device, IP address and behavior. This data can then be used for subsequent phishing attacks.
The number of such sites continues to grow. Since the beginning of the year, experts have registered about 17.7 thousand new domains on the Runet, the name of which mentions "casino", said Sergey Trukhachev, head of the SBA service at ESA PRO. On average, about 350 such domains appear daily.
— At the same time, about 2.3 thousand of them now have an active status, the rest are probably registered as a reserve in case the main sites are blocked and the load is redistributed, — he noted.
According to BI.ZONE experts, almost 30 thousand potentially fraudulent sites were created in January alone.
One of the most common schemes has become a modified version of fake date fraud. An attacker creates a Telegram account on behalf of a girl, often using images generated by neural networks, and posts a profile on a dating site. After several hours or days of communication, the "girl" mentions that she allegedly earns money in an online casino.
Next, several scenarios are used. In one case, the interviewee talks about expensive purchases made with the money she won and sends a link to the casino's Telegram bot. In another case, it shares a "promo code" for a free game. Another option is to ask for help to withdraw large winnings due to account blocking.
In the first half of 2025 alone, fraudsters stole almost 13.2 billion rubles from citizens, Igor Bederov recalled. At the same time, attackers are increasingly using complex pretexts not to return money, such as fictitious regulatory checks or accusations of violating platform rules.
Sergey, a resident of Yekaterinburg, met a girl on Telegram who introduced herself as Anna. After a week of communication, she said that she allegedly won more than 400 thousand rubles in "her" online casino and is now withdrawing money. As proof, I sent a link to the bot and an "exclusive" promo code. Sergey first deposited 5,000 rubles and almost immediately saw a "win" of 18,000. To unblock the withdrawal, the bot offered to top up the account by another 40 thousand rubles. When the man tried to withdraw money, the system demanded to pay a "tax" and a "verification commission" — another 35 thousand. After the refusal, "Anna" disappeared, and the bot stopped responding. The total damage amounted to about 80 thousand rubles.
Why do users keep getting caught
According to Maria Sinitsyna, senior analyst at the Digital Risk Protection Department at F6, the number of resources masquerading as online casinos has remained at a consistently high level for a long time.
According to F6, only two fraudulent groups using such a scheme stole more than 2.5 million rubles from users from Russia from January 16 to January 30, 2026, with an average debit amount of 14,426 rubles. At the same time, one of the groups stole 66% more funds than in the same period last year, and the average amount of write-offs increased by about 30%.
According to Pavel Kovalenko, Director of Anti-fraud at Informzashita, the number of such incidents has increased significantly over the past year.
— We are seeing a steady increase in fraud using fake online casinos and pseudo-gaming services. In some regions, the number of such cases has increased by about one and a half to two times. Young people and residents of lower—income regions are particularly vulnerable, for whom the offers of quick earnings in the game look the most attractive," he said.
The problem is compounded by the legal status of gambling. Online casinos are prohibited in Russia, and you can only legally play in special gambling zones. Therefore, most online resources offering gambling to Russians operate through foreign jurisdictions and are often used as a cover for fraud, the expert added.
According to him, the attackers build a long-term communication scenario and gradually convince the person to contribute ever larger amounts, sometimes at the expense of credit funds. Because of this, the average damage from a single incident is also increasing.
The growing number of such resources is also related to technological factors. There are ready-made templates for creating pseudo-casinos on the darknet, and the use of cryptocurrencies makes it more difficult to track financial flows, explained Artur Vafin, associate professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.
— If a person can survive a casino loss, then outright cheating often becomes very stressful. Therefore, the main conclusion is simple: if online casinos are banned in Russia, any offer to play for money over the Internet will almost certainly result in a loss of funds," he stressed.
Cybercriminals are also actively using duplicate sites, said the head of BI.ZONE Digital Risk Protection Dmitry Kiryushkin.
— Online casinos are banned in Russia, but scammers expect that users will be attracted by the potential chance of winning. For this purpose, numerous duplicate websites and advertising pages leading to gaming platforms are being created," he said.
Such schemes are based on basic psychology, added Andrey Yarnykh, a member of the ROCIT board and an information security expert.
— Free offers and bonuses in this case are a tool to stir up excitement. Scammers create the illusion of easy prey and push a person to make a hasty decision. At the same time, rave reviews on such sites are usually fake too. We are seeing an increase in appeals from deceived Russians who come to the organization's hotline," he said.
Anton Nemkin, a member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, added that criminals are quickly adapting old schemes to new technologies.
— The user is offered "nothing to lose", but in fact they are being pushed to enter bank data or link a card. Many of these sites look convincing.: they have technical support, licenses, and reviews. That's why people lose their vigilance," he said.
Experts advise against following links from spam mailings and questionable chats, checking domain names of websites and not entering banking information on unknown platforms.
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