Singapore Has Now Blocked 3,800 Illegal Gambling Sites

The government of Singapore has continued to enact strict measures against illegal gambling websites, with the government confirming that it has now blocked a total of 3,800 unlicensed gambling operators as of December 31, 2024.

Illegal Gambling Sites Continue to Target Singapore

Singapore offers online gambling but in limited and highly regulated form through the Singapore Pools and the Singapore Turf Club. This has made the country a prime target for unlicensed domains that continue to try and offer alternative forms of gambling to local players.

For its part, the Singapore government has been keeping apace and issuing blocks on the fly. In its latest report on the fight against illegal gambling, Minister of Home Affairs K. Shanmugam has said that the government has also blocked 145,000 illegal gambling transactions, totaling $27 million worth of funds.

The minister was responding to a question by Yip Hon Weng, a lawmaker, who inquired about the number of illegal gambling websites blocked by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

In a statement cited by The Strait Times which did the original reporting, Shanmugam acknowledged that the government was playing a game of cat and mouse with illegal websites, with blocking measures not as efficient as the government would like them to be:

“These blocking measures have impeded access to illegal online gambling to some extent. However, this approach is not foolproof as illegal operators can easily create new websites, and we cannot know of every gambling website.”

Regardless, the minister confirmed that Singapore will continue to block websites as one of its most efficient measures to limit the impact of such operations.

Shanmugam has further added that authorities are conducting their investigations, but also encouraged the public to seek and help the police by reporting illegal gambling websites and apps.

Singapore Settles Under New Regulatory Regime

The minister further commented on the state of gambling regulation in the country, arguing that for the time being, a proposal to have the bank accounts of problem gambling blocked, upon a request from their families, would not be implemented.

Shanmugam argued that the measures already in place provided pathological gamblers with sufficient support, and the government had invested in various social causes, keeping their numbers low. Singapore has re-regulated its gambling industry in September, passing the Casino Control (Amendment) Bill.