Better Business Bureau issues scam warning ahead of sports betting launch in Missouri

Sam Bentham

25 August 2025 at 6:00am UTC-4

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Non-profit group Better Business Bureau has warned of a surge in gambling-related scams in Missouri following the state’s planned legal sports betting launch on 1 December 2025.

The warning comes after the non-profit group reported that Scam Tracker complaints linked to online gambling have doubled since 2023.

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Better Business Bureau Investigator Brian Edwards said, “Despite the raft of these now legal options that are cropping up, there’s a lot of confusion around them, and there are a lot of kind of quasi legal or illegal, even gambling operations that people are sometimes willingly and, you know, unwillingly, interacting with because of the rise in popularity.”

Edwards explained that there were reports of misleading terms and frozen accounts from customers at unlicensed operators. He advised that players read the terms and conditions comprehensively before depositing.

“They should understand kind of back and front, what they are getting themselves into. They should be checking to make sure that the establishment or organization that they are playing through is licensed in their state,” he continued.

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