Vietnamese state websites found advertising illegal gambling
According to the Vietnam National Cyber Security Technology Corp, 130 state websites and 170 educational portals link to illegal gambling sites.
Vietnam.- Vietnamese state and education websites are reportedly being used to promote illegal gambling. Vu Ngoc Son, the technology director of the Vietnam National Cyber Security Technology Corp, said 130 government websites and 170 education sites had links to illegal gambling offerings.
The body conducted research after several agencies asked for help reviewing their sites. Users searching for keywords relating to betting and gambling on Google could find links with the government’s “gov.vn” domain and the “edu.vn” domain on the first pages of search results. Clicking on the links led to malicious websites that request full name and phone number to create an account.
According to VnExpress, experts warned that these domains are trusted and often attract many advertisements, making them an attractive target for illegal gambling websites.
Gambling in Vietnam is illegal outside a handful of venues and is punishable with fines of between VND100m and VND50m (US$430 to US$2,150) and three to seven years in prison. Vietnamese citizens are only allowed to enter two casinos: one on the southern island of Phu Quoc and the other in Van Don in the northern province of Quang Ninh. Online gambling and its advertising is prohibited.
See also: Study finds illegal gambling ads common on Facebook in Vietnam
