Bets, influencers and scammers deceive in the rent-seeking era – 09/30/2024 – Forwarded Frequently

In economic theory, there is a very well-established concept called “rent-seeking” which was initially introduced by Gordon Tullock and Anne Krueger.

It is a market failure where an economic agent influences or manipulates the regulatory or political environment to increase their income without engaging in productive activities that generate wealth for society.

The consequences are extremely negative for the economy, generating market inefficiencies, feelings of injustice and eroding trust in institutions.

Betting houses (or “bets”) are in the spotlight of this problem, but there is an entire underworld on social networks that materializes in the online “extra income” community. It is a complex structure that ranges from the betting market, influencer courses, dubious investments and even “online oddities” such as clicking on links or evaluating products in exchange for remuneration.

This became a major new problem for the federal government and Fernando Haddad’s department, which is currently concerned with the betting market. The “rent-seeking” problem of digital casinos is revealed by lobbying from the betting industry along with the fact that these companies take advantage of policies such as Bolsa Família to increase their revenue.

As the report from the Sheetin the month of August alone, Brazilians transferred R$21.1 billion to betting houses, of which R$3 billion were beneficiaries of Bolsa Família, which represents 20% of the amount transferred.

It is alarming to see that a policy designed to help families in a vulnerable economic situation has become a way of transferring income to economic groups and also aggravates social problems such as gambling addiction and default.

Through Palver’s social media intelligence platform, it is possible to analyze a sample of more than 80 thousand WhatsApp groups. When we searched for tips on “extra income”, “bets” and “online casinos” in WhatsApp groups, the messages reached more than 1 million users in the last three months and have an average volume of mentions higher than that of notorious public figures such as President Lula and former President Jair Bolsonaro.

It was possible to identify several types of fraud published in WhatsApp groups, such as online casinos, reselling pirated services, Pix scams, fake investment platforms, selling courses and the hacking industry.

The incentive for online casinos consists of messages that recommend various slot-style games, one of which is the famous “Tigrinho Game”. Examples are “Fortune Tiger”, “Dragon Luck”, “Fortune Rabbit”, “Circus” and many others.

Messages labeled “Paying Hours” recommend playing at specific times, such as between 5:01 pm and 5:05 pm, to guarantee larger payouts. YouTube videos are also shared and appear in droves on channels with around 1 million subscribers.

Some videos inform that there are “bugs” or errors on the platforms that guarantee victory, and that they should be taken advantage of as soon as possible because they will be corrected, creating a feeling of urgency to bet.

The cutting industry also promises riches through courses on cutting influencer videos.

An example of a message triggered by robots is called “Prospere com Cortes do Marçal”. The message provides a link where the user can purchase access to a cutting environment for R$12 that promises to generate at least R$10,000 in monthly income with cuts from Pablo Marçal.

Links with instructions for selling course platforms lead to a website called Black Bot that claims to offer a “Commission Machine”. The site shows videos of participants giving testimonials showing that they earned their first R$10,000 in just one month using the platform

Analysis of these dissemination systems only scratches the surface of what was found. It is evident that there is a large advertising industry that seeks to deceive users on the internet.

It is worrying to see that a significant part of national income is being directed to this type of service which, ultimately, is unproductive for the country and generates only negative consequences not only for the victims, but for society as a whole.

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