Latvian Gangsters Arrested for Online Casino Extortion

After repeated demands and threats on London-based online casinos, London’s high-tech crime unit began a pursuit on the cyber-thugs demanding large sums of cash in return for protection from hackers who were diverting legitimate traffic to the online casino in question.

What began in Costa Rica, where online gambling is somewhat more unregulated and susceptible to illegal crime-rings, started to spread into Asia and Europe, where the situation got a bit more heated recently.

When the hi-tech crime unit in London paid the Latvian’s with traceable money, delivered at various locations, a few names started to come up as being prime suspects. So far, two arrests have been made and more are expected to come, thanks to cooperation by the Russian Interior Ministry.

The threats to online casinos have ceased for the time being, provided that the technology used to create online traffic diversions stays out of the hands of criminals. What made the actions of the Latvians so paramount was that they achieved extortion on such a large scale. Due to the fact that the Latvians would demand sums that any successful casino online could afford, the casino would often pay up without a fight. However, it was a turning point when the crime ring went after every notable online casino in Europe, especially CanBet, who was the first online casino to pursue bringing down the cyber-thugs.