Hackers target online bookies
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Hackers attempt to shut down betting sites if they do not receive money.
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Online bookmakers are being targeted by hackers who threaten to shut down sites that refuse to pay them money.
"It's a traditional blackmail scam," a spokeswoman for Britain's National Hi-Tech Crime Unit said.
The hackers, who have been operating for almost two years from offshore locations such as Gibraltar and Antigua, have been targeting sites mainly used by U.S. gamblers betting on sporting events.
They usually contact online bookmakers by e-mail and demand payment. If denied, they attempt to paralyze a site by sending mass requests for information -- which slows down a site and makes it inaccessible to those wanting to place bets.
They recently targeted sites ahead of the U.S. football Super Bowl championship three weeks ago.
Now they are turning their attention to British-based bookmakers.
"It's a new development," the crime unit spokeswoman said, adding that an investigation is under way. However she declined to give details of the probe.
The most recent UK blackmail targets are sites taking bets on the Grand National, Britain's premier horseracing event, which takes place in April.
"The money they're asking for isn't the biggest in the world, about one hour's worth of business," the spokeswoman said.
The amounts demanded range from $34,000 to $50,000 (£18,280 to £26,880), she said.
According to the Financial Times newspaper, representatives from more than a dozen offshore gambling sites met in Gibraltar this month to discuss ways of defending themselves against the blackmailers.
An executive at one UK-based online bookmaker told the FT: "We have put measures in place with our ISPs (Internet service providers) to strengthen our defenses."
The newspaper quoted a representative of Paddy Power, an Irish bookmaker, as saying its site had been shut down for hours earlier this month. It did not pay the money demanded and contacted police.
The blackmailers are not expected to go away any time soon.
"Any major sporting event that comes along they'll be looking to target," the crime unit spokeswoman said.
