In Martin Scorsese’s 1995 film, “Casino,” Robert DeNiro’s character is charged with operating a 1970’s Las Vegas casino for the Chicago mafia. He and his partner in crime (played by Joe Pesci), shake down the strip, skimming millions in casino earnings. The story ends in disaster for the pair—but the film’s plot underlines an important point: the ability to move massive amounts of money through a legitimate business, like a casino, is an effective means to disguise criminal activity.
This fact isn’t lost on today’s hackers and cybercriminals, especially when they need to make profits from the online sale of drugs, weapons, or other black market items appear clean, quickly. Our most recent report, “Jackpot! Money Laundering Through Online Gambling,” discusses this subject at length—looking at the why and how behind cybercriminals’ use of online gambling to launder money made from illegal activities.
Among the report’s primary findings: cybercriminals and hackers are turning to online casinos—an industry set to grow nearly 30% over the next three years—for money laundering. This may sound like something straight out of the movies, but it’s happening everyday. In fact, according to Dr. Ingo Fiedler, a leading researcher of online gambling, roughly $1.6 billion in criminal profits enter the mainstream economy through money laundering every year. And much of this can be linked to the emergence of virtual casinos, which provide crooks with the means to quickly and efficiently “launder” their money.
No comments:
Post a Comment