A new system of incentives has recently been announced in the Republic of Korea, which calls on the public to report illegal sporting games and provides a generous incentive to those who provide information to facilitate law enforcement action.
The scheme is supervised by Korea Sports and Leisure Ltd., which operates the Illegal Sports Lottery Reporting Centre. As trustee for the Seoul Olympic Memorial National Sports Renewal Consortium, the company manages the official sports lottery system. Officials stated that the scheme was designed to help the authorities track and dismantle illegal sports networks that were still operating on the Internet despite national laws. Under the system, citizens can report illegal sports games through the Centre website or by dialling a special hotline. Reporting may include operators, users or individuals promoting unauthorized gaming platforms. Informants are required to provide specific information, such as website addresses, access vouchers, if any, and other evidentiary material to assist investigators in verifying the content of the report. Incentives will depend on the seriousness of the reported behaviour. Informants who provide leads to assist in combating illegal sports lottery operators can receive up to 200 million won (approximately US$ 150,000). The Korean authorities consider website operators to be the core organizers of underground systems, which often rely on complex networks to attract users and transfer funds. There are separate incentives for cases involving the manipulation of sporting events related to the official lottery system. A maximum of 50 million won (US$3.75) is available to those who provide false proof of the race. Regulators are particularly concerned about game manipulation, which undermines the fairness of sport and reduces its credibility.
Incentives for other illegal activities related to sports games are relatively small. Such activities include the promotion of illegal websites, the construction or operation of lottery systems, the sharing of relevant content or acting as intermediaries. Incentives can be up to 15 million won (US$ 1.12 million), depending on the availability of information. The Korean Government has also put in place systematic rules for reporting possible abuses. Several “Magic” sites from the same website were reported, and only the first verified one received a full incentive. The authorities indicated that illegal operators often created a large number of duplicate web sites to circumvent censorship and that it was therefore essential to identify original domain names. It also allows for the reporting of bank or personal payment accounts used for transactions. For each account identified in connection with illegal activities, the reporting person receives an incentive of 100,000 won (approximately US$ 75) and the number of reports is unlimited. After the investigation has been verified, the whistleblower will receive a text message informing him of the award.
Officially, the expansion of the incentive mechanism is an indication of the increasing interest of the Korean Government in the issue of sporting lottery. It noted that underground websites could expose the population to economic risks and lack access to the services provided by licensed operators. By encouraging public participation, the Korean authorities hope that the Reporting Centre will become a powerful tool for identifying illicit networks and for supporting the broader preservation of the environmental integrity of South Korea ‘ s regulated sports lottery.
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