Malaysia waiting to pounce on illegal text message betting syndicate

Authorities in Malaysia say they’ve identified an illegal text message gambling syndicate and are waiting for the right moment to crack down hard.

On Thursday, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) announced it had identified a syndicate offering local bookies access to online gambling services. MCMC monitoring and enforcement chief Zulkarnain Mohd Yasin said the syndicate operated via SMS text messaging channels.

Malaysia has been cracking down on illegal online gambling operators, with the MCMC announcing last month that it had blocked access to 310 gambling sites since the start of the year. Zulkarnain said the use of SMS messaging reflected the difficulties illegal bookies were having conducting business through normal channels as a result of police actions.

According to a Bernama report, Malaysian authorities uncovered the SMS scheme after seizing 11 satellite dishes from the house of a fisherman in Kuala Kurau in the country’s northern state of Perak. The Marine Police Force called it the largest seizure of illegal satellite dishes since their use was declared illegal in 1998.