According to the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information (ABEI) under the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), the agency has frequently put forward solutions to prevent illegal activities. MIC every month sends lists of gambling games and gift-exchange games on the App Store and Google Play Store, requesting the platforms to block and remove the games. 

The ministry has also had working sessions with Facebook, requesting it to prevent gambling game ads from appearing on its platform.

In 2023, Google Play Store blocked and removed games as per MIC’s requests with a rate of 70-80 percent (up 55 percent compared with 2022). 

Apple’s App Store could satisfy only 50 percent of the requirements, and it needed a long time to do this.

As for Facebook, despite the working session between the watchdog agency and the social network platform, it has not implemented this effectively, especially in using AI to scan and block ads about gambling games. More and more ads of this kind have appeared more regularly under different forms.

Experts believe that cooperation of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and relevant parties is necessary in order to eliminate online gambling games and betting. 

MPS said it has eliminated more than 2,000 cases of organizing gambling and gambling in cyberspace, while police and local authorities have discovered and eliminated online gambling rings with the scale of trillions of dong. 

However, many gambling game and betting websites still exist, challenging management agencies. 

Vu Ngoc Son, CTO of NCS, admitted that it is difficult to block gambling games and betting websites. Technically, this can be done by blocking domain names, but the subjects change their domain names regularly.

According to Son, one of the reasons is demand, so, in addition to technological solutions, it is necessary to organize public campaigns about the illegality of the websites. 

Experts in the field of payments said there are two solutions to prevent gambling games. First, requesting Apple and Google to remove game apps of this kind from their app stores, especially the App Store, because the majority of VIP clients who like gambling are users of Apple phones.

Meanwhile, on Google Play Store, apps are the main tool to attract users, while websites are just used for standby if apps are blocked, because it is smoother to play on apps than on websites.

Second, blocking payment methods for gambling is believed to be more effective, but it cannot be done overnight. 

Commercial banks and e-wallets have applied solutions to block gambling games, such as setting strict requirements on initial registration (authentication by KYC) and connecting customers’ data with the national database on population.

However, violators still circumvent the solutions by buying or leasing other people’s accounts. They target ethnic minority people, people who have gone abroad as guest workers for a long time, and students.

Sources said the fee for leasing one account is VND80,000-200,000. These are real accounts, so they can be used for transactions.

Also according to experts, in recent years, websites providing gambling games and betting have begun using a new method of payment and transaction in cryptocurrencies (USDT). Cryptocurrency is not legally recognized in Vietnam, but it has become popular in many countries. 

There are many methods for gamblers to convert USDT into US dollars or Vietnamese dong. The cash flows around, which makes it difficult for state management agencies to control.

The ads on gambling games and betting on Facebook always show the image of MoMo e-wallet as the most popular payment method. The logo of the e-wallet is placed at the center to attract gamblers. 

MoMo has denied working with gambling games and illegal activities.

Trong Dat