If you gamble online and offshore, you may be throwing more than just your money away.

On September 18th, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that Patrick Kalonji, a Costa Rican resident, pleaded guilty to “one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud” resulting from his role in a an Internet-based identity theft ring.

Kalonji, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office, worked in the “credit department of the Internet-basedgambling website BetOnSports.com.”  While employed by BetOnSports.com, Kalonji “stole the private identity information of at least150 victims from sources including the BetOnSports creditdepartment. The stolen information included the victims’ names,dates of birth, addresses, mothers’ maiden names, social securitynumbers, telephone numbers, credit card numbers, and three-digitcredit-card security codes. Victims of the scheme residedthroughout the United States, including in New Jersey, Colorado,Texas, Florida, Arkansas, and California.”

Further, “After stealing the victims’ identity information, Kalonji then e-mailed that information to other ring members who then used the stolen credit card numbers and identity information to commit various forms of fraud, including stealing money from the victims’ credit cards and bank accounts, making fraudulent purchases from various vendors over the Internet, and purchasing airline tickets for round-trip travel between Lagos, Nigeria, and New York City.”

The now indisputable fact that Internet based offshore gambling operations are being used to steal the personal information of those who place bets should come as no surprise.  After all, the odds of a victim ever coming forward when they know they were victimized while participating in an illegal act is slim.  And, even if a victim does come forward, the odds of a successful prosecution of an offshore gambling operation are even slimmer.  This case arose from a lengthy investigation aimed at the owners of BetOnSports.com for different alleged crimes – not as an identity theft investigation at the outset.

So, if you’re inclined to gamble online and offshore, beware.  You may be throwing your identity away along with your money.