Websites we consider suspicious have been tagged with one of our 'scam' technology tracking technologies, like the
1.9999 Scam or 'Indonesian Slot Scam'.
They all work the same way, get a working site that has expired, keep the underlying HTML that renders the page then overlay the gambling/crypto scam on top of that.
We have added the ability to remove scam totals from charts and in reports.
Why Gambling and Scam Websites Exist
Large numbers of gambling and scam websites, particularly those targeting users in Indonesia and China, exist because online gambling is heavily restricted or illegal in these markets while demand remains significant. Operators frequently run their services from offshore jurisdictions and use large numbers of disposable domains to reach customers. When a domain is blocked, removed from search results, reported, or otherwise becomes ineffective, another domain can quickly take its place. As a result, a single gambling operation may be associated with hundreds or thousands of domains rather than maintaining one long-lived website.
Many of these websites are therefore not independent businesses. They are often mirrors, affiliate landing pages, SEO doorway sites, or automatically generated versions of the same underlying gambling platform. White-label gambling systems, inexpensive domain registrations, automated website deployment, CDNs and generated content make it inexpensive to create sites at very large scale. This produces clusters of websites with similar designs, technologies, infrastructure and content. The large number of domains is partly a consequence of the continual cycle between operators creating replacement websites and governments, search engines, hosting providers and other services attempting to block or remove them.
Why it affects BuiltWith
Some of these sites also copy or reproduce the design, content and technical characteristics of legitimate websites. This can make a gambling or scam domain appear to search engines, automated crawlers and technology-detection services such as BuiltWith as though it contains the same technologies or content as the legitimate site it is imitating. In some cases different content may also be presented depending on the visitor, crawler, location or request. These techniques can create misleading technology detections and associations, which is why BuiltWith may treat detections from identified gambling or scam websites with lower confidence.