GLMS flags Europe as region with most suspicious betting alerts in Q1 2021

Global Lottery Monitoring System (GLMS) has identified Europe as the continent that generated the most suspicious betting alerts in its Q1 2021 report.
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Global Lottery Monitoring System (GLMS) has identified Europe as the continent that generated the biggest number of suspicious betting alerts in its report for Q1 2021.

Out of the 323 alerts recorded during the quarter, GLMS recorded that Europe was the only continent that hit triple figures, accounting for 160 suspicious betting activity warnings.

Asia followed with 66, with South America close behind at 58, while North America, Africa and Oceania generated 14, eight and seven warnings respectively. A further 10 alerts were classified as ‘international’.

Of the 160 European alerts, GLMS noted that football had the most suspicious wagers with a total of 94 warnings, whilst basketball accounted for 30. Ice hockey, esports, tennis and volleyball and handball also saw suspicious betting activity.

In contrast, esports saw extensive illicit betting in Asia, with 24 alerts generated for this sector – the same number of warnings activated by football across the continent, whilst basketball also reported the second-highest activity levels at 17.

Football dominated the total number of alerts sent to GLMS members at 196 in Q1, followed by basketball at 56, esports at 40 and ice hockey at 15, while volleyball and handball generated only one each.

Jennifer Welshons, Senior Vice President of Marketing of GLMS member Scientific Games, said: “As sports events globally are starting up again, as seen with March Madness in the US, we believe our lottery sports customers are going to have a great 2021.

“We are already experiencing record weeks in Delaware in the US and in Turkey, and we are thrilled to support this with one of the most advanced sports betting platforms in the industry. We believe that modernization is the clear path to protecting lottery funding for the vital programs and good causes they support.”

Additionally, GLMS outlined that 188 of the 323 alerts were classified as ‘green alerts’, relating to factors such as team related news, wrong starting prices, member information and situations in which one person or entity owned a sports club and its sponsor.

67 yellow alerts were reported, generated by unexplainable odds changes, tournament structure and rumours of match-fixing from news outlets, betting forums and social media.

Finally, 13 were red alerts, warnings supported by rumours of match-fixing from a named source as well as inexplicable odds changes, betfair volume and tournament structure.

Edward Peace, Managing Director of Sporting Solutions, commented: “The past year has presented exceptional challenges which have had a profound impact across the industry. Our response has been guided by a commitment to do the right thing for our people and partners, reflecting a set of company values that long pre-dates the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“We worked hard on event and competition integrity, both internally and with external providers, to ensure new content that filled the COVID-19 void was is in line with our high standards.”