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24/04/2017

BBC Radio 4 - The Skin Trade

Children are being lured into gambling with virtual currencies invented for computer games

Children are being lured into gambling using virtual currencies invented for computer gaming. Some of those getting rich on kids' pocket money have been YouTube stars they idolise.

Children are being lured into online gambling - not done with real money, but with the accessories that go with certain online games. Sometimes these are "skins" (cosmetic enhancements for in-game weapons), sometimes "coins". In some cases, the skins are worth tens of thousands of pounds, and can be bought and sold on third party websites. As a result they've become an alternative currency, easily accessible to children - although their parents probably know nothing about it. Some children have run up serious debts. It's a business worth billions of pounds a year. 

The gambling sites are unlicenced, illegal, and make no attempt to check the age of the people gambling. In some cases the sites have been set up by Youtube stars who have millions of young followers; but in some of the worst cases, the Youtubers have not revealed that they actually own the sites they have been pushing. In other cases, Youtubers have been paid to make promotional videos where the odds have been fixed to make it look as though it's easy to make money. 

In February this year, two British men, one of them a popular Youtuber, were convicted of running an illegal site which invited children to gamble "coins" in the FIFA game. But the site is still operational, and there are clone copies of it running across Europe. Other people who have run hugely lucrative unlicenced gambling sites seem to have got away with it and are still idolised by their young fans. Are the authorities willing or able to put a stop to this business? 

Presenter/producer: Jolyon Jenkins.

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