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BAGUIO, Philippines – Online gambling applications are exploiting celebrities for their marketing strategies, taking advantage of AI-generated and edited contents that the untrained eye would not easily spot.
One thing common among these Facebook pages posting the misleading ads is that their administrators are based in Malaysia, Rappler’s research show.
Various Facebook pages use the likes of local personalities Anne Curtis, Belle Mariano, and Catriona Gray, as well as Korean star Park Seo-joon, without their consent to promote online gambling through misleading advertisements on social media.
The World Health Organization (WHO), which considers gambling a concern, attributes the latter’s rapid normalization to commercialization and digitization.
This trend coincides with the significant growth of the Philippine gaming industry. Based on a PAGCOR report, Gross Gaming Revenues (GGR) surged by 37.52% in the third quarter of 2024, reaching ₱94.61 billion. PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco acknowledged the gaming industry’s increasing reliance on technology and mobile devices in marketing their products.
Targeting famous personalities
Many celebrities are becoming victims of these misleading marketing tactics.
Anne Curtis, for instance, was featured in a misleading ad video posted on Facebook. It falsely claimed that she was endorsing the PesoBET app. The video, using Curtis’ voice, presented PesoBET as the top online casino app in the country.
As of writing, the ad has 5,900 views.
However, there were no official posts from Curtis promoting the app, and, based on the list of PAGCOR’s licensed electronic and offshore gaming platforms as of December 18, 2024, PesoBET is not licensed.
In another instance, a fake ad video depicted Belle Mariano verbally expressing excitement about joining the “PesoBet family,” and portraying PesoBET as a leading online casino.
Reverse image search revealed that the original video was from Preview‘s coverage of Mariano’s preparation for the 2023 ABS-CBN Ball.
Both Curtis and Mariano’s videos appear to have been manipulated using similar techniques, with their original footage repurposed for the misleading advertisements.
Meanwhile, a manipulated video of actor Park Seo-joon originally promoting Paradise Casino in South Korea was edited to misleadingly promote the online gambling app Pusta88. The texts and audio in the video was changed from “Paradise” to “Pusta88.”
Park Seo-joon, according to the video, is the brand spokesperson for 2024 and 2025. As of writing, the ad has garnered 683,000 views.
In addition to these alarming videos, edited posters featuring Catriona Gray were also used to falsely promote Peso88 Lucky. In the poster, Gray’s photos were visible with a text claiming her as an ambassador.
Pusta88 and Peso88 are also not licensed, based on the PAGCOR list.
Previous fact checks by Rappler also revealed that Manny Pacquiao was used in such kind of disinformation.
There are common characteristics among the Facebook pages Pesobet-bns, which is responsible for the misleading ads of Anne Curtis and Belle Mariano; Happy Entertainment, which posted manipulated ad of Park Seo-Joon; and Peso88 Lucky, which posted fake posters of Catriona Gray:
1. The Facebook pages are likely fake accounts.
“‘Pesobet-bns,” created in November 2024, had only 9 likes and 10 followers with no public posts, profile picture, or cover photo.
“Happy Entertainment’,” established in September 2024, had only 3 likes and 6 followers, no public posts beyond its profile picture of a woman and a generic cover photo of casino chips. Based on the AI image detector Sight engine, the page’s profile picture is 99% likely to be AI-generated.
“Peso88 Lucky,” created in July 2024, had 50 likes and 51 followers with only its profile picture (presumably the app’s logo) as a public post.
Based on the page transparency feature of Facebook, “Pesobet-bns” has been actively running misleading videos of Belle Mariano and Anne Curtis since December 2024, with four ads currently running.
Meanwhile, “Happy Entertainment” has been running a single misleading ad featuring Park Seo-Joon since December as well.
“Peso88 Lucky” has been running two fake posters of Catriona Gray since October and November 2024.
3. Their page admins are based in Malaysia.
The page transparency feature also revealed that the sole admin of Pesobet-bns and Peso88 Lucky, and the two admins of Happy Entertainment, are all located in Malaysia.
For the location’s accuracy, the Facebook’s Help Center said that the primary country location of these admins are determined by their information and activity on Facebook products, including the stated location on their profiles, and device and connection information.
According to a study by the National Institutes of Health, online gambling’s popularity has been increasing in Malaysia over the past few years despite it being illegal there.
Influence, impacts
While online gambling is legal in the Philippines, the promotion of such activities remains a contentious issue.
A Rappler report highlighted the alarming trend of youth becoming increasingly involved in online gambling, often resulting in financial losses.
The WHO, in its official website, emphasizes that gambling not only threatens individuals’ financial stability, but also poses serious health risks. These risks include mental health issues, self-harm, family violence, and relationship breakdowns.
Hence, one of the recommended approaches of WHO to prevent gambling harm include ending its advertising, promotion, and sponsorship. – Rappler.com
Lyndee Buenagua is a third year college student and campus journalist from the University of the Philippines Baguio. The former editor-in-chief of Highland 360, a Baguio-based publication, she is also an Aries Rufo Journalism fellow of Rappler for 2024.
