Brazil Cracks Down on Illegal Gambling as Regulated Online Casino Market Expands

Brazil's Ministry of Finance has blocked approximately 25,000 illegal betting websites and ordered the closure of more than 500 bank accounts as part of an aggressive crackdown on unlicensed online gambling and betting operators. The enforcement actions were detailed by the Subsecretariat for Prizes and Betting (SPA) during a panel at the Latin America Academy at ICE Barcelona, where officials outlined regulatory measures implemented since October 2024.

25,000 Unlicensed Betting Sites Blocked Nationwide

According to the SPA, the website blocks were carried out in cooperation with Brazil's national telecommunications regulator ANATEL and nearly 20,000 internet service providers operating across the country. Authorities said the goal is to redirect gambling activity into the legal, regulated betting market in Brazil while significantly reducing consumer risk.

"The objective is to channel all this volume into the legal market, reduce risks to consumers and return this revenue to the state," said Fabio Macorin, subsecretary for monitoring and enforcement at the SPA.

Financial Enforcement Targets Illegal Betting Payments

In parallel, Brazilian regulators have implemented a financial monitoring strategy based on a "follow the money" approach, inspired by US law enforcement models. Under Ordinance 5,555/25, this initiative has resulted in the closure of more than 500 bank accounts used as payment channels for illegal betting operations.

The SPA said this strategy is critical to dismantling illegal gambling networks by cutting off access to banking and payment services.

Advertising and Social Media Restrictions Tightened

The authority has also partnered with advertising self-regulatory body CONAR, as well as major technology and social media platforms, to remove hundreds of advertisements and online profiles promoting unlicensed betting websites.

Macorin stressed that the focus of enforcement goes beyond licensing status alone.

"We are not talking about legal and illegal operators, but about licensed businesses versus criminal enterprises," he said. "To confront this criminality, we need to act in an integrated way and deliver clear results to consumers and society."

Brazil Targets the Entire Illegal Gambling Ecosystem

Officials confirmed that Brazil's enforcement campaign is designed to disrupt illegal gambling across the entire ecosystem, including:

• Betting domains and websites
• Payment processing and bank accounts
• Advertising, affiliates and social media marketing