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A Chinese crime syndicate has created a vast network of illegal betting platforms that is deeply rooted in European football. The organization, known as Yabo (also known as Yabo Sports or Yabo Group), uses sophisticated technology and many shell companies to disguise its activities, while simultaneously entering into multimillion-dollar contracts with leading football clubs.
Yabo and its associated brands are considered the largest illegal betting network targeting Greater China. Despite the fact that the organization is not well-known among the general public, its logos can be seen on the uniforms of players of such giants as Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
In 2019, Manchester United, the second-most expensive football club in the world according to Forbes, signed a sponsorship contract with Yabo Sports. The transaction amount is estimated at 3 million pounds ($3.6 million) per year. It is noteworthy that at the time of signing the contract, Yabo Sports existed for only a year and even had almost no pages in social networks.
In addition to Manchester United, Yabo has partnered with the Argentine national team (the future world champion), English Leicester City, German Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin, French Monaco, the Copa America tournament, Italian Serie A and later Milan.
Despite the fact that Yabo Sports officially folded its activities in 2022 amid increased media attention, in fact it continued to work under other names, such as Kaiyun Sports. The Kaiyun logo can be seen on the sleeves of Aston Villa and Crystal Palace uniforms, as well as on the chests of Nottingham Forest players (all English Premier League clubs). According to reports, Kaiyun has also signed a partnership agreement with the largest club in the world - Real Madrid.
The bright logos on the T-shirts of famous teams hide a grim reality. According to a recent report by Infoblox, a cybersecurity company, technical support for this criminal empire is provided by a mysterious organization called "Vigilish Viper". It has developed a sophisticated disguise system that includes more than 170,000 ever-changing domain names that hide the true nature of the infrastructure from security professionals.
Dr. Renee Burton, Head of Threat Analysis at Infoblox, explains: "In fact, they use a lot of shell companies in different countries of the world. They then operate through so-called white intermediaries in the UK, such as TGP Europe, which journalists linked to the Suncity gambling organization, which is accused of money laundering by the Chinese government. This obfuscates the tracks of those who are already hidden. This is an incredible chain of fake identities."
The Vigilish Viper technology not only protects the syndicate from detection, but also filters users of betting sites. The system collects data about the user's device and browser, uses geo-blocking so that sites are only accessible from target regions, and can even distinguish between mobile, home, and commercial IP addresses in China. In addition, it can detect the use of virtual private networks (VPNs).
Yabo uses its sites not only for illegal betting, but also to recruit new victims to its criminal network. People are lured by attractive bonuses and the illusion of easy earnings. For example, a site can offer up to $ 1,500 for free to anyone who deposits up to $ 70,000 in a week. When a user starts losing money and getting into debt, he is forced to recruit new players to pay off his debt, turning into a link in the pyramid.
Even more shocking is the fact that some of the employees of Yabo sites may be in physical custody. According to the Asian Horse Racing Federation (ARF) report for 2023, these people are kept in secure complexes, work 12 hours a day six days a week, and cannot leave without ransom. The report refers to closed complexes with apartments, offices, supermarkets and other objects protected by an armed patrol.
There is evidence of physical abuse and trafficking of workers between operators. In 2021, videos and photos appeared on the Internet where people are threatened with physical violence, beaten with sticks and beaten with electric shocks. The same forced laborers who serve Yabo's betting sites are also forced to promote fraudulent "butchering pigs" schemes and cryptocurrency scams.
Combating this threat will require a joint effort by cyber experts, regulators and international law enforcement agencies, especially in the UK and China. Dr. Burton notes, "This traffic passes one hundred percent through the Great Firewall of China in both directions, and it is not blocked." She adds: "The ingenuity with which a criminal organization can use football clubs to commit crimes is simply astounding. We need to understand why sports teams make such deals in the first place. There should be some adjustments for this."
• Source: https://www.infoblox.com/threat-int...urce=pr&utm_medium=pr&utm_content=iti724-tavv
Yabo and its associated brands are considered the largest illegal betting network targeting Greater China. Despite the fact that the organization is not well-known among the general public, its logos can be seen on the uniforms of players of such giants as Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
In 2019, Manchester United, the second-most expensive football club in the world according to Forbes, signed a sponsorship contract with Yabo Sports. The transaction amount is estimated at 3 million pounds ($3.6 million) per year. It is noteworthy that at the time of signing the contract, Yabo Sports existed for only a year and even had almost no pages in social networks.
In addition to Manchester United, Yabo has partnered with the Argentine national team (the future world champion), English Leicester City, German Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin, French Monaco, the Copa America tournament, Italian Serie A and later Milan.
Despite the fact that Yabo Sports officially folded its activities in 2022 amid increased media attention, in fact it continued to work under other names, such as Kaiyun Sports. The Kaiyun logo can be seen on the sleeves of Aston Villa and Crystal Palace uniforms, as well as on the chests of Nottingham Forest players (all English Premier League clubs). According to reports, Kaiyun has also signed a partnership agreement with the largest club in the world - Real Madrid.
The bright logos on the T-shirts of famous teams hide a grim reality. According to a recent report by Infoblox, a cybersecurity company, technical support for this criminal empire is provided by a mysterious organization called "Vigilish Viper". It has developed a sophisticated disguise system that includes more than 170,000 ever-changing domain names that hide the true nature of the infrastructure from security professionals.
Dr. Renee Burton, Head of Threat Analysis at Infoblox, explains: "In fact, they use a lot of shell companies in different countries of the world. They then operate through so-called white intermediaries in the UK, such as TGP Europe, which journalists linked to the Suncity gambling organization, which is accused of money laundering by the Chinese government. This obfuscates the tracks of those who are already hidden. This is an incredible chain of fake identities."
The Vigilish Viper technology not only protects the syndicate from detection, but also filters users of betting sites. The system collects data about the user's device and browser, uses geo-blocking so that sites are only accessible from target regions, and can even distinguish between mobile, home, and commercial IP addresses in China. In addition, it can detect the use of virtual private networks (VPNs).
Yabo uses its sites not only for illegal betting, but also to recruit new victims to its criminal network. People are lured by attractive bonuses and the illusion of easy earnings. For example, a site can offer up to $ 1,500 for free to anyone who deposits up to $ 70,000 in a week. When a user starts losing money and getting into debt, he is forced to recruit new players to pay off his debt, turning into a link in the pyramid.
Even more shocking is the fact that some of the employees of Yabo sites may be in physical custody. According to the Asian Horse Racing Federation (ARF) report for 2023, these people are kept in secure complexes, work 12 hours a day six days a week, and cannot leave without ransom. The report refers to closed complexes with apartments, offices, supermarkets and other objects protected by an armed patrol.
There is evidence of physical abuse and trafficking of workers between operators. In 2021, videos and photos appeared on the Internet where people are threatened with physical violence, beaten with sticks and beaten with electric shocks. The same forced laborers who serve Yabo's betting sites are also forced to promote fraudulent "butchering pigs" schemes and cryptocurrency scams.
Combating this threat will require a joint effort by cyber experts, regulators and international law enforcement agencies, especially in the UK and China. Dr. Burton notes, "This traffic passes one hundred percent through the Great Firewall of China in both directions, and it is not blocked." She adds: "The ingenuity with which a criminal organization can use football clubs to commit crimes is simply astounding. We need to understand why sports teams make such deals in the first place. There should be some adjustments for this."
• Source: https://www.infoblox.com/threat-int...urce=pr&utm_medium=pr&utm_content=iti724-tavv