November 15, 2023 at 10:37PM
Swedish digital rights organization Qurium has uncovered approximately 250 cloned websites that are suspected of redirecting users to Chinese gambling sites. Investigations revealed that various organizations had their websites copied and pasted, including private businesses, universities, and public libraries. Qurium alleges that the gambling ads on these cloned sites are connected to a physical address in the Isle of Man, a tax haven where several gambling companies are registered. They also claim that the domain names were registered by Gname.com, which has been criticized by the World Intellectual Property Organization for similar activities. These cloned sites serve as a means to generate traffic for gambling operators by circumventing restrictions imposed by publishers and ad networks. It remains uncertain whether the target audience is within the People’s Republic, where gambling is illegal, or the Chinese diaspora. However, the duplicated content on these cloned sites poses a nuisance and a potential disadvantage in search engine rankings for the original websites.
During the meeting, it was reported that Swedish digital rights organization Qurium has discovered around 250 cloned websites. These websites are suspected to drive traffic to China-linked gambling sites. MindaNews, a Filipino media outlet, found a clone of its website translated into Chinese and filled with gambling ads. Further investigation revealed that many other organizations, including private businesses, universities, and public libraries, had their websites copied and pasted onto these clones.
According to Qurium’s report, all of these clones were created in September 2021 and feature advertisements for the gambling company ‘188bet’ through a link to 520xingyun.com/from/188bet.php. Qurium also alleges that some of the gambling ads found on the 520xingyun.com website are connected to a physical address in the tax-haven Isle of Man, where several gambling companies are registered.
Qurium further claims that one of the websites promoted on these clones is associated with Kaiyun, which holds a UK business license operated by a Gibraltar-based entity named TGP Europe Limited. TGP provides “white label” gaming services, which are betting platforms that can be used by organizations, such as football clubs, to create their own branded gambling services.
However, TGP has been accused by the UK Gambling Commission of breaching the anti-money-laundering requirements of its license. According to reporting by Josimar, TGP allegedly offers its services to China-controlled entities running gaming services in Vietnam and the Philippines since gambling is prohibited in China.
Qurium has also discovered that most of the domain names for these cloned sites were registered by Gname.com Pte. Ltd, an organization known for registering domains that closely resemble other brands, which are then used for gambling sites. Gname has previously been criticized by the World Intellectual Property Organization for its activities.
The purpose of cloning these sites and registering questionable domains is to promote gambling sites. Some publishers may be hesitant to carry certain ads on their websites, and major ad networks and adtech companies allow the blocking of specific topics. Illegally cloned sites are less likely to have qualms about the ads they serve, making them useful for gambling site operators who aim to generate traffic.
It is unclear whether these clones specifically target individuals in the People’s Republic of China, where gambling is prohibited, or if they are intended for the sizable Chinese diaspora. However, these cloned sites can negatively impact search engine rankings, as search engines are not favorable towards duplicated content, causing annoyance to the original websites they have copied.