Despite the recent clamp-down by Vietnamese police, a major gambling ring which used the domain name m88.com is still openly operating.

M88 still active despite recent bust

On July 4, public concerns were raised over the news that m88.com, a huge illegal online football-betting ring, was shut down by HCM City police for allegedly taking more than 1 trillion VND (47.6 million USD) in bets on football matches. At least seven of the people allegedly involved were arrested.

Just one day later, however, a reporter successfully accessed the website. Apparently, after the police bust, M88 simply switched to other very similar domain names. There is even one website that provides assistance for gamblers to get access to the M88 system after the clampdown.

After gaining access to M88, gamblers can easily set up an account and, within a few minutes, be provided with customer service. Clients are able to chat online with staff, who will guide them through the process of how to transfer money from a Vietnamese bank account of their choice to their M88 accounts. There are a few rules, including not divulging to the bank that transfers are actually going to M88 or transferring money through a third party.

Gamblers are also reminded to check the system daily, as M88 changes their account number on a regular basis. This has stirred up concerns about how an illegal football betting ring is able to set up so many bank accounts for their transactions.

A few hours after conducting the transaction, the money goes into the gambler’s M88 account, which allows them to start illegally betting.

An investigation found that the internet was not used for major football betting rings in Vietnam before 2008. Since then, many of them, like sbobet, 188bet and M88 have launched Vietnamese websites and employed Vietnamese staff to service customers.

When asked about the recent police 'bust', an M88 staff member simply said, “We’re operating as normal," and abruptly ended the conversation.