Brazil blocks more than 19,000 illegal gambling sites
The Brazilian government has intensified its offensive against illegal online gambling and has already blocked 19,180 URLs used to offer unauthorized betting in the country. The data comes from information obtained by the payment platform Pay4Fun through a request made under the Access to Information Law to the Ministry of Finance.
The actions were carried out by the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), an agency dependent on the Ministry of Finance, and are part of the official strategy to curb the activities of operators functioning outside the current regulatory framework. According to authorities, these platforms evade security controls, do not pay taxes, and operate without guarantees for consumers.
As a complement to the technical blocks, progress was also made in 2025 against the illegal promotion of gambling. Between January and September, at least 242 pages and profiles that disseminated irregular betting advertising were removed, in addition to 182 specific posts linked to unauthorized offers.
Leonardo Baptista, executive director and co-founder of Pay4Fun, highlighted that Brazil took a key step by regulating online betting, although he warned that the process still faces significant challenges. “The data shows that the illegal market remains very large, and it is impossible to consolidate a multi-billion dollar sector while much of the operations remain outside state supervision. Combating irregular financial flows and expanding regulation to physical gambling are clear priorities for the second year of the law’s validity. Not regulating what already exists does not reduce the activity, it only prevents the State from supervising, collecting revenue, and protecting the bettor,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the government advanced measures to interrupt the financial circuit that supports the clandestine market. Between March and September, 483 bank accounts, both individual and corporate, were closed after detecting signs of links to unauthorized betting operations.
Payment institutions also came under scrutiny. The SPA notified 22 companies in the sector for the possible maintenance of irregular accounts. According to the Ministry of Finance, these notifications led to the closure of new accounts and the submission of additional information supporting ongoing investigations.
Tags: Brasil, illegal betting block, illegal casino blocking, online betting Brazil