Brazil identifies nearly 700 new illegal betting sites after the ban

Brazil’s crackdown on online betting has had the predictable side effect: more illegal sites, not fewer. The Independent Observatory tracking the market says it found nearly 700 new unauthorized betting pages after the prohibition came into force, while the government is now pushing banks, payment processors, app stores, and telecoms to cut off the money and distribution channels.

1. The Bet Legal platform identified 58 new unauthorized betting sites shortly after the ban was announced on Friday (25), then another 334 addresses on Saturday (26). By the first hour of Tuesday night (29), the tally had risen to nearly 700 illegal betting pages created since the start of the prohibition.
2. Online betting has been banned in Brazil since September 25, almost three years after the government regulated the sector. Authorized operators may remain online until October 5, but only to let players withdraw existing balances. After that, websites and apps are supposed to stop operating.
3. The Brazilian government says it has set up a task force to monitor the illegal betting market. In its first assessment, the Ministry of Justice said it requested the blocking of more than 5,200 illegal websites. It also notified two app stores to remove 186 betting apps before October 5.
4. The same review identified 390 pages and social media profiles advertising illegal betting, and the government requested their removal. The strategy also targets the financial rails: a provisional measure barred financial institutions from processing transactions destined for betting, making it harder for unauthorized platforms to move funds.
5. According to national public security secretary Chico Lucas, the new legislation expands the tools available to track money flowing through the illegal market. “We did not have legal instruments to go after the money,” he said. “The MP introduced obligations with financial institutions. The Central Bank has already regulated two resolutions, and these resolutions allow us to go after where the money goes.”

For PSPs and acquiring teams, the detail that matters is not the headline ban but the enforcement stack: website blocking, app-store takedowns, social-media removal requests, and financial restrictions all at once. ANJL, the National Association of Games and Lotteries, says less than half of the more than 5,200 sites flagged by the government were actually blocked by Anatel, which suggests the practical enforcement gap is still wide open.