LegitBet identifies 802 Instagram profiles promoting illegal betting in Brazil
Enforcement & compliance2 min read
LegitBet monitoring identified 802 Instagram profiles linking to illegal betting sites in Brazil among 48,318 monitored profiles, with data consolidated on 2 November. It found nearly 74% posted such links at least once every three days and that the profiles directed users to 844 websites; ANJL president Plínio Lemos Jorge warned of minors’ exposure, saying Instagram allows accounts from age 13 and illegal sites do not bar them.
More than 800 influencer profiles used Instagram to promote links to illegal betting sites in Brazil, according to an investigation by LegitBet, a platform used by the gambling industry association ANJL to monitor the illegal market. The profiles were found among 48,318 monitored by the system, with data consolidated on 2 November. The identified profiles were not the total number on Instagram.
Nearly 74% of the 802 profiles posted content with suspected illegal gambling links at least once every three days. The influencers identified by LegitBet posted links to 844 websites, while the most widely shared link appeared on 86 profiles.
In a monitoring cycle on 27 October, the system checked 908 profiles in one hour and 25 minutes and identified 626 containing links to suspected gambling sites. That cycle found 500 new addresses, of which 396 showed an affiliate-link pattern.
The monitoring found that 73% of profiles had 10,000 to 100,000 followers, while 23.6% had 100,000 to one million. Plínio Lemos Jorge, president of the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL), put the potential audience at 5.9 million to 59.4 million people, based on his figure of 74% of the 802 profiles having 10,000 to 100,000 followers. Jorge said Instagram permits accounts from age 13 and that illegal sites do not bar minors.
The periodic monitoring began shortly before Brazil's regulated market opened on 1 January 2025.