Casino spam texts, a checklist for the moment one arrives, with Korea's figure that half of reported spam texts are gambling ads

2026-10-21

50.1%. That is the share of gambling ads among reported and detected mobile text spam in Korea in the second half of 2025, in a report Korea's internet agency KISA released on May 14, 2026.

When casino spam texts arrive, the steps are few and the order matters. We set out what the figure means, what the law blocks, and where to report, with routes for Korea, the US and the UK.

1.Gambling texts in numbers

Reading KISA's tables in a row, the gambling share was 42.8% in the first half of 2023, 47.4% in the second half and 53.6% in the first half of 2024. It then moved to 45.7%, 51.4% and 50.1% (KISA 2025 H2 report).

For three years, roughly one in two reported or detected spam texts in Korea was a gambling ad. The report says gambling and investment-finance spam together make up about 62.0%.

Reported and detected share: spam people reported or KISA detected, by type. Not what one person receives.

Counted by messages received, the picture changes. In the same report, a person got 2.74 spam texts a month on average in late 2025, of which 0.30 were gambling, down 75.4% from the half before.

2.What the law blocks

Article 50(1) of Korea's Network Act requires a recipient's explicit prior consent before sending ads for profit. Article 50(3) asks for separate consent to send between 9 pm and 8 am (Network Act Article 50).

Article 50-8 bans sending ads for goods or services that a law prohibits.

Breaking it carries up to 3 years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won under Article 72.

Consent or not, a text advertising a banned service is an offence from the moment it is sent. In Britain, the Gambling Commission says licensed gambling businesses should only send marketing texts to people who have given consent.

3.Checklist for when one arrives

Before touching anything

Do not tap the link or number in the text.

Ofcom also advises against replying, including to opt-out numbers, since a reply shows the number is live (Ofcom 7726 guide).

Where to report

In the US and the UK, forward the text to 7726, which spells SPAM on a keypad. The FTC also takes reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov (FTC guide).

In Korea, KISA's guide says calling 118 and pressing 4 for illegal spam works around the clock. The staffed 118 advice line runs on weekdays from 9 am to 6 pm, and reports can also go through spam.kisa.or.kr or the phone's quick report feature (KISA reporting guide).

Why it is worth the minute

The FTC says people reported $470 million in losses to text scams in 2024, more than five times the 2020 figure (FTC data spotlight). Gambling was not among the top five types it listed. Forwarding to 7726 hands the sender's number to the phone company to look into, and it costs nothing.

How far enforcement has gone

On November 7, 2024, Seoul Economic Daily reported that Seoul police had caught 20 people from 6 text-sending firms and detained 3. They had sent about 2.8 billion texts, including sex-trade and gambling ads, at 14 to 20 won each, using servers abroad (Seoul Economic Daily).

Korea's government said with the late-2025 report that it is pushing a sender certification scheme and changes to recover profits made from illegal spam. Rules aimed at senders keep growing, but which number sent what still piles up through reports from the people who received it.

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