Last month, KrebsOnSecurity monitored the rapid rise of countless sophisticated online gaming and betting platforms that entice individuals with complimentary credits and ultimately take away any cryptocurrency assets deposited by users. We’ve since discovered that these fraudulent gambling websites have surged due to a novel Russian affiliate initiative known as “Gambler Panel,” which presents itself as a “profit-driven project devoid of integrity.”
A machine-translated excerpt from Gambler Panel’s affiliate website.
The deceit initiates with misleading advertisements shared on social media, claiming that the betting platforms collaborate with renowned athletes or social media influencers. The advertisements consistently assert that by utilizing a provided “promo code,” potential players can secure a $2,500 credit on the featured gaming portal.
The gaming platforms request users to establish a free account to access their $2,500 credit, which they can utilize to engage in various high-quality video games that prompt users to wager on each move. However, when users attempt to withdraw any “earnings,” the gaming site will deny the request and ask the user to make a “verification deposit” of cryptocurrency — typically about $100 — prior to any funds being released.
Individuals who deposit cryptocurrency funds soon find themselves pressured into further gambling and making additional deposits. And — spoiler alert — all players ultimately lose everything they’ve put into the platform.
The quantity of fraudulent gambling or “scambling” websites has surged in the previous month, and we now understand the reason: The sites all derive their gaming content and comprehensive strategies for swindling players directly from the playbook devised by Gambler Panel, a Russian-language affiliate program that offers affiliates up to 70% of the profits.
Gambler Panel’s website gambler-panel[.]com includes a useful wiki that elucidates the scam from inception to conclusion, providing affiliates guidance on the best ways to attract visitors, keep them gambling, and maximize profits from each target.
“We have a completely original FAKE CASINO engine with no rival,” Gambler Panel’s wiki exclaims. “Meticulously designed casino aesthetics in every pixel, numerous audits, surveys of real individuals, and traffic flood tests were performed, enabling us to develop something that leaves no doubt about its legitimacy and credibility, even for an avid gambling enthusiast with years of experience.”
Gambler Panel emphasizes that the sole purpose of affiliates is to generate traffic to these scambling platforms through any means necessary.
A machine-translated section of Gambler Panel’s singular direction for affiliates: Drive traffic to these scambling platforms using any available methods.
“Unlike legitimate gambling affiliates, we accept any type of traffic, regardless of its origins; the only restriction is the CIS countries,” the wiki continued, referring to a common prohibition against scamming individuals in Russia and former Soviet republics within the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The affiliate program’s website claims it boasts over 20,000 members, each earning at least $10 for every verification deposit. Interested new affiliates must first gain permission from the group’s Telegram channel, which currently hosts about 2,500 active users.
The Gambler Panel channel is filled with images of affiliate dashboards displaying the daily earnings of top affiliates, scantily-clad young women advertising the Gambler logo, and luxury cars that leading affiliates assert they purchased with their profits.
A machine-translated segment of the wiki for the Gambler Panel affiliate program.
The apparent demand for this scambling sector is a result of the program’s user-friendly nature and its comprehensive instructions for successfully mirroring nearly every aspect of the scam. Indeed, much of the guide centers around tips and ready-made templates designed to assist even novice affiliates in generating traffic through social media platforms, especially on Instagram and TikTok.
Gambler Panel also guides affiliates through various responses to inquiries from users attempting to withdraw funds from the platform. This section, titled “Guidelines for operating in Live chat,” encourages scammers to respond swiftly to user inquiries (1-7 minutes) and includes various tactics for maintaining professionalism and keeping users on the platform for as long as possible.
A machine-translated segment of the Gambler Panel’s guidance on navigating chat support interactions with users.
The connection between Gambler Panel and the surge in the number of scambling platforms was uncovered by a 17-year-old developer managing several Discord servers that have recently been inundated with misleading ads for these sites.
The researcher, who preferred to be identified only by the moniker “Thereallo,” indicated that Gambler Panel has established a scalable business model for other criminals.
“The wiki is kind of like a ‘how to scam 101’ manual for criminals, articulated with the clarity you would anticipate from a legitimate organization,” Thereallo commented. “It’s organized, provides step-by-step instructions, and treats their scam platform akin to a real product. You could easily replace the content, and it might pass as standard documentation for startups.”
“They’ve mitigated their own risk by disseminating links via Discord / Facebook / YT Shorts, etc. — and delegated it to an eager affiliate network, much like a franchise,” Thereallo remarked in response to inquiries.
“A centralized platform capable of supporting over 1,200 domains with a shared user base, IP tracking, and a custom API is not a trivial task to construct,” Thereallo added. “It’s a scalable infrastructure designed to serve as a resilient foundation for thousands of disposable scam platforms.”
The cybersecurity firm Silent Push has compiled a list of the most recent domains linked to the Gambler Panel, accessible here (.csv).