Russian Criminal Crypto Casino "Scambling" Sites + More Industry News

Russian Fraudsters Launch Affiliate Program for Crypto Casino Scam

Some of the player groups on Facebook have been raising the alarm about fraudulent online casinos that operate with cryptocurrency.

Some of the casinos look legitimate and they offer free game credits just for signing up. The gameplay is unreal; the games are actually rigged for you to win.

However, when it comes time to cash out your winnings, you hit a big roadblock. The site insists on a player deposit via crypto prior to a withdrawal, usually around $100. Many players get sucked into making the deposit in the hopes of collecting their winnings. However, it is a lost cause.

Once the funds have been deposited, the casino essentially "ghosts" you and refuses to pay. Because the player paid with crypto, they have no recourse at all. The money is gone.

Many of these "SCAMbling" online crypto casinos trace back to Russia, and we have some news on the front.

There is an affiliate site for these crypto casino scammers, called Gambler Panel. They actually refer to themselves as a "soulless project...made for profit."

Partners in their "soulless" project get a customized fake casino site for scamming players, and the sites appear on their surface to be quite credible.

The Gambler Panel site reportedly has over 20,000 affiliates marketing their "product," and affiliates earn up to 70% of the money that is stolen from players.

Scammer affiliates are allowed to get traffic almost anywhere they can find it, other than providing traffic from CIS countries. (CIS stands for Commonwealth of Independent States.)

Intralot Inks Deal with the Montana Lottery

We have some news from the State of Montana, and this time it isn't about a sweepstakes casino ban. For those of you living under a rock, Montana was the first state in the union to explicitly ban sweepstakes casino sites.

But today's news from Montana is on another topic.

Intralot has been working with the Montana Lottery for nearly two decades, plus they are the operator of Sports Bet Montana, which launched in 2020.

Now they have a third deal with the state, inking a deal to provide Montana with "next generation lottery services."

In other Intralot news, the company made a $3.4 billion deal with Bally's Corporation in July 2025. Bally's now owns 33.4% of Intralot, which is listed on the Athens Stock Exchange.