Thousands of gambling ads target Bangladeshi audience on Meta Platforms violating rules

In Bangladesh, gambling may be legally prohibited, but the allure of online betting and gambling apps remains persistent. Within a single day, Dismislab uncovered over 4,000 active gambling advertisements on Meta Ad Library, targeting Bangladeshi users and spending thousands of dollars in promotion. From board games to slots, casino to sports betting, these ads are promising users a hefty profit and provoking them to spend real money.

These ads have sparked concerns on multiple fronts. Firstly, they successfully bypass Meta’s existing systems to run ads violating its policies, and the platform itself profits from it. Secondly, these ads often feature sports and entertainment celebrities, manipulating their videos to entice the audience. Cribbing from established media outlets or distorting genuine news reports, at times, these ads invite users to gamble or bet. Thirdly, while some of the apps showcased in these ads may initially appear as harmless games available on the Google Play Store, they ultimately lead users to online gambling platforms.

In Bangladesh, the repercussions of these gambling and betting apps have been acutely felt, as according to several media reports, many fall prey to their allure. Alarmingly, advertisements for these apps, some of which have been reported in the local media, continue to run on Meta platforms, found Dismislab.

Gambling Ads in Abundance

Dismislab researchers conducted the first round of searches on Meta Ad Library using the keywords “jackpot” and “online casino”, filtering the results by the country “Bangladesh”. This initial search yielded hundreds of active ads spanning slots, casinos, fortune wheels, and sports betting.

Researchers identified 13 keyphrases from the ads found in the primary search, each representing the first sentence in the text description or caption associated with certain genres of ads. These keyphrases, translated from Bangla, include: “BD Bangladesh’s best app BD”, “BD Do you live in Bangladesh? BD”, “Bangladesh’s best platform, sign up”, “BD Unique app for Bangladesh! BD”, “BD Official for Bangladesh! BD”, “BD Do you live in Bangladesh? BD”, “Play and Win the Jackpot”, “BD Especially for Bangladesh BD”, “BD Exclusively for Bangladesh BD”, “BD Change your life today BD”, “RashidWin 26788 taka”, “start with 200 taka”, and “Great chance to win lots of money”.

Each key phrase was searched separately in the Ad Library on March 30, 2024, and the results were unexpected. Disimislab found more than 4000 gambling ads across different key phrases, with the highest results stemming from the key phrases “BD Specially for Bangladesh BD” (1500), “Great chance to win lots of money” (1200), and “Bangladesh’s best app” (550). While searching with the keyword “IPL 2024,” various types of ads were displayed in the results. The research team counted 40 active betting ads among them.

It is important to note that searches were conducted only in Bangla language, and with English keyword searches, the number of gambling ads targeting Bangladesh would likely be higher. Moreover, there are several ads without any text description, meaning those are not included in the results as well.

The Ad Library stores commercial advertisements as long as they are active – except for political ones, for which the platform archives inactive ads as well. Many of these ads have been active for months and even a year and urge users to deposit a set amount for a chance to win big. Associated pages (for example 1, 2, 3) are shady, with no likes, followers, or posts, indicating they were opened to advertise gambling only.

There are interesting similarities in how ads are presented. One may observe from the above list of key phrases that in most cases, the text description starts and ends with “BD”, and the full Bangla text appears incomplete and translated from English using any online tool. Many pages use the same texts and videos in promotion of the apps and sites. While this study could not explore the origins of all associated pages, a sample of 50 pages suggests their admins are located in Ukraine, Germany, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, and even the United States.

Several pages have Bangladeshi admins that mostly promote sports betting and two particular gambling platforms, “Glory Casino” and “Crazy Time”. The sports betting sites or apps that are advertised on Ad Library appear to be far more diverse than the gambling apps, with a home-grown network of people facilitating those.

A Conservative Guesstimate

It’s challenging to tell the exact expenditure on gambling advertisements targeting Bangladesh on Facebook or other Meta platforms. Nonetheless, a rough estimate can be drawn from available data to gauge its scale. 

According to Meta, “most advertisers who are charged for impressions should allocate at least USD 1 per day for daily budgets.” Even with the lowest ad spending considered at one US dollar per day, nearly four thousand dollars’ worth of gambling ads target Bangladeshi users on Meta platforms daily. Presuming these ads are running all year around at the same volume, this amounts to approximately 15 crore taka or 1.5 million dollars annually in gambling ads on Meta platforms alone.

This estimation comes with limitations. The number of gambling ads may vary throughout the year due to factors such as holidays, festival seasons or major sports events. Despite this variability, the projected figure falls short of the actual advertising expenditure as this study only relied on specific Bangla keywords to identify ads. 

For instance, searching solely for “glory casino” on March 30th and 31st yielded 2800 ads daily with numerous ads lacking written captions that were excluded from the analysis. Hundreds of ads promoting various other gambling apps or betting sites without captions are excluded as well. 

Gambling ads in English captions and targeting Bangladeshi audiences are also not accounted for in the study. For instance, searching for “online casino” and “sports betting” in English uncovered about 500 ads targeting Bangladesh, which were not included in the analysis. 

Additionally, not all advertisers adhere to the minimum daily spending of one dollar per ad. The actual daily cost of an ad may surpass this threshold due to factors such as impressions, ad strategy, and placement. It means, the number of gambling ads and the advertising expenses could be far higher. 

Once again, this guesstimate isn’t an exhaustive figure but rather an attempt to illustrate the scale of gambling advertisements on social media platforms. It’s also important to note that this ad spending is not necessarily all from Bangladesh. As mentioned above, most pages associated with these ads, according to reviewed samples, operate from abroad.

The magnitude of Bangladesh’s online gambling market is evident from reports in various media outlets. In October 2022, the Rapid Action Battalion apprehended six individuals associated with a company allegedly laundering Tk 200 crore abroad through online gambling. According to Daily Ajker Patrika, over Tk 2000 crore is laundered abroad from Bangladesh through online gambling annually.

The Betting Brothers

The Indian Premier League, commonly known as the IPL, is an annual men’s Twenty20 cricket league celebrated for its glitz, financial allure, and star-studded lineup. Its popularity extends beyond India’s borders, including in neighboring nations like Bangladesh. However, the IPL has found itself in controversy over the years, facing allegations of match-fixing and illicit betting activities.

Sports betting ads related to the IPL are primarily discovered through keyword searches with “IPL 2024”. These ads promote IPL betting, offering various services such as easy betting transactions, match predictions, match reports, deposit and withdrawal of funds, betting tips, and opening user accounts on different betting sites.

For instance, a page titled “Admin Akash Bhai” states in its ad: “On the occasion of the popular Premier League, IPL 2024, a number of Admin//Sub-Admin//Super Agent//Master Agents are being appointed all over the country.” Akash Bhai (Brother Akash) further promises, “Honesty and trustworthiness are our main strengths. Stay safe. Every user’s money is as safe as a bank with us.” The ad concludes with a green tick symbol, and the accompanying image promotes several betting sites including Masti 247, Baazi 365, Velki, and Betbuzz.

A page named Online Betting 11 promotes the betting site Jaya9 and promises “huge rewards awaiting”, appealing to users with, “Those who need today’s match report, please contact… You have worked with many people in your life.. Try working with me once.. You will get something good.”

Similarly, another advertiser, Khan Bhai (Brother Khan), declares, “I am with you 24 hours by your side with maximum customer satisfaction. Knock on WhatsApp or inbox to open a new account!!” Brother Khan’s name also appears in another ad from the page “IPL 2024”, promoting several betting sites including Velki, 9 Wicket, and Playbuzz, while also recruiting agents nationwide and offering a 100% bonus on opening a user account.

Some of these ads were discontinued as this report was being written, but there are still dozens of ads related to IPL – from different other brothers like Badsha Bhai and Babu bhai, among others – still active, promising bonuses, 100% wins, gifts, and rewards, and often directing users to betting sites, WhatsApp groups, and Telegram channels.

Fake Videos of Celebrities in Gambling Ads

Gambling app ads are also spicing things up with some creative photo and video editing featuring star cricketers. Dismislab uncovered about 50 ads on Ad Library that showcased doctored images or videos of celebrities and media logos. Among the most popular targets for this digital manipulation was Shakib Al Hasan, the former captain of the Bangladesh men’s cricket team.

In one eyebrow-raising instance, a snap from Shakib’s official Facebook page, where he sported a T-shirt bearing the BlueCheese clothing company logo, got a makeover. The BlueCheese logo got the boot, replaced by the flashy insignia of ‘Glory Casino,’ with Shakib himself giving it a nod.

Then there’s a video where Shakib was originally endorsing a furniture company. That innocent clip was remixed, featuring audio hyping up a betting site, with a gambling scene imposed on the phone display in a point-of-view shot. 

Several fact-checking organizations in Bangladesh, including Meta’s third-party fact-checking entities like FactWatch and Newschecker, flagged and debunked fabricated content featuring Bangladeshi cricket stars to promote betting sites. They revealed manipulated videos of Shakib Al Hasan often using AI or deepfake tools and photos of prominent players like Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman, and Tamim Iqbal, though Facebook’s Manipulated Media Policy says that videos altered to deceive viewers will be removed.

To top it off, at least three Bangladeshi media logos—Somoy TV, Channel 24, and NTV—got their moment in the spotlight too. The gambling advertisers either altered a genuine news video piece by replacing its audio with casino promotions or added a news channel logo to a video promoting those apps.

A similar campaign in March 2023, doctored a news clip featuring Farabi Hafiz, a news presenter from Channel 24. Hafiz later confirmed in a Facebook post that the campaign actually edited a genuine news segment to create a fake video.

Shady Apps Linked to Ads

In an attempt to understand where these ads direct users, Dismislab examined six apps and two chat groups on WhatsApp and Telegram, all linked to the randomly selected ads found in keyphrase searches. The chat groups were found recruiting agents for betting sites. Five apps were downloaded, and the security system of the mobile phone prevented the installation of another due to potential harm. 

Despite descriptions on the Google Play Store suggesting they are simplistic gaming apps featuring memory and luck tests and traditional Candy Crush-style games, upon opening, they redirected to gambling apps like Glory Casino, 1X Bet, and Pin Up. A quick Google search reveals multiple websites for each, where users must register with deposits to participate in gambling or betting on various games. Two of these apps were removed from Play Store as this report was being written. For one app, a user commented in a review, “It took my deposit and it says ‘page not available’.”

Cyber security software company Trend Micro published a report in 2019, where they showed how hundreds of the fake apps on iOS App Store and Google Play could transform into gambling apps that may get banned for violating local government regulations and app store policies.

Meta’s gambling advertising policy states that ads for completely free-to-play games fall under exceptions to the policy, implying that they do not require approval. Apparently, advertisers circumvent this policy by linking gambling ads to seemingly free-to-use gaming apps. 

The ads without links are straightforward. Here, advertising videos or images feature apps or sites of various gambling and betting sites and entice users with promises of prizes or bonuses. However, the captions often omit any indication that it is a gambling ad or site, allowing these ads to run without requiring permission. Meta’s automated system fails to identify these ads as gambling-related.

Bangladeshi media have documented several cases of financial losses in several districts due to fraudulent betting sites. A report from bdnews24.com in July 2023 highlighted the impact of online gambling in Bangladesh, naming Glory Casino. According to a 2020 report by the private satellite TV channel DBC, a bank official lost around Tk 3 crore in online gambling. A 2022 report by Samakal detailed the financial struggles faced by betting users and mentioned gambling sites such as Onexbit, Bet365.com, Playbet365.com, Bdt10.com, Wins65.com, and Betscore24.com. Ads for at least three of these sites are still popping up on the social media feeds.

Anecdote? A Deceived ‘News Presenter’

Dismislab also found a Bangladeshi freelancer unwittingly roped into a betting site campaign. The freelancer in question, Rasel Ahmed, operates under the alias ‘A Rasel’ on the freelancing platform Fiverr. In a twist of fate, six videos featuring Ahmed were discovered in Meta’s Ad Library, all promoting various betting sites. A pinned post on his Facebook profile, from March 2023, revealed Ahmed’s frustration with his image being misused on social media.

In his defense, Ahmed recounted a client from Ukraine reaching out to him on Fiverr to voice a script for a gaming project. He claims to have been assured by the client that the video would remain private and was intended solely for showcasing the client’s mobile gaming company. However, shortly after completing the project, Ahmed discovered his videos being used to promote gambling-related apps on Facebook.

To corroborate Ahmed’s account, Dismislab reviewed screenshots of his conversations with a Ukrainian individual named Roman Dvorak on Fiverr. These exchanges, dating back to March 3, 2023, supported Ahmed’s claims. A search on Fiverr unveiled a profile under the name Roman Dvorak with the Ukrainian flag, further substantiating Ahmed’s narrative.

According to the conversations provided, Dvorak had taken on the project on behalf of Mukesh, an Indian national who is again claimed to be unaffiliated with the betting company. 

Campaigns Continue Despite Violations

Meta’s Online Gambling and Gaming Advertising Policy mandates that advertisers seeking to promote such content must obtain written permission using a form provided by Meta itself. Ads can only be targeted to specific countries listed by Meta, and exceptions include ads for physical gambling establishments, government lotteries, prize promotions involving retail purchases, or entirely free-to-play games.

Bangladesh isn’t among the approved countries for online gambling ads on the platform, and neither does the form offer any options to target users in Bangladesh. Yet, all of the 4,000 active gambling and betting ads on the Ad Library identified fall under the scope of Meta’s definition of online gambling and gaming ads, which defines it as “any product or service where anything of monetary value is included as part of a method of entry and prize.” Apparently, advertisers are circumventing it by either obscuring the nature of their ads or evading Meta’s detection once the ads are running.

Although the Constitution of Bangladesh mandates the state to take effective measures against gambling, the current legal framework regulating gambling and betting in Bangladesh is inadequate. The Public Gambling Act, 1867, one of the principal legislations, and other laws, such as the metropolitan police statutes, criminalize gambling in public places within metropolitan areas, while the Penal Code, 1860, prohibits maintaining premises for unauthorized lotteries. 

“Neither the statutes nor the case laws expressly extend the prohibition to online gambling or betting activities, and imputing such prohibition within existing laws would contradict the established rules of statutory interpretation. As a result, the law enforcement agencies rely on financial crimes laws to sanction gambling and betting activities” said Shahzeb Mahmood, a Bangladeshi legal scholar now based in Australia. In a recent directive to the BTRC, the High Court division directed all online betting and gambling ads to be banned, and in February 2023, authorities took action against individuals involved in advertising online gambling sites. However, the spree of gambling advertisements persisted, despite the actions and in clear violation of the court orders.