Feasibility of Committing Fraud and Money Laundering Through Internet Lottery

Abstract

Internet lottery, as one of the modern manifestations of gambling within cyberspace, has gained particular importance from the perspective of criminal law and financial crimes due to its reliance on chance, monetary payment, and digital structure. The expansion of communication technologies, ease of internet access, and development of electronic payment instruments have caused this phenomenon to emerge on a large scale, often with transnational characteristics. The present study, adopting a descriptive–analytical approach, examines the possibility of committing crimes such as fraud, money laundering, and unlawful acquisition of property through internet lottery platforms, while also attempting to analyze the legal status of this phenomenon within the Iranian criminal justice system. In this regard, the study first investigates the fundamental characteristics of internet lotteries, including their basis in games of chance, dependence on technical instruments, transnational nature, necessity of financial value transfer, and the absence of direct participant involvement in the process of determining winners. Subsequently, the criminalization of behaviors associated with internet lotteries under Iranian criminal law is analyzed, including agreements for gambling, participation in lotteries, organization of prize drawings, establishment and management of virtual platforms, as well as the production and support of related technological tools. The findings indicate that although Iranian criminal law does not recognize an independent criminal title specifically for “internet lottery,” a range of related criminal offenses may encompass various forms of conduct in this field. The study further demonstrates that, under certain circumstances, internet lottery may serve as a means for perpetrating fraud or unlawful acquisition of property, and in legal systems where gambling is lawful, it may even provide opportunities for exploitation in money laundering processes.