Lotería de la Provincia de Buenos Aires has launched a public awareness campaign on problem gambling, targeting students through a series of talks in La Plata.
The initiative comes as authorities report a shift in the demographic and behavioral profile of affected users, with cases becoming harder to detect.
Gonzalo Atanasof, president of the lottery, said: "The characteristics of the problem gambler have changed. The system was set up to detect them by their behavior, their physical traits, their conduct. But today that has shifted. Today, the addiction has two characteristics that make it very dangerous: it is invisible and silent. It can be inside your home, in your children, without you realizing it."
The campaign includes a session titled "Activate the Alerts", which has already been held, and a second event scheduled for April 29 at the Faculty of Law of the Universidad Nacional de La Plata, focused on regulation, illegal betting and the role of the judiciary.
Atanasof identified four drivers behind the rise of problem gambling: the behavioral legacy of Covid-19 isolation; the gamification of digital environments through mobile applications with no clear endpoint; a cultural trend promoting fast financial gains through online personalities; and economic conditions that drive some users toward illegal betting as a source of income.
In 2025, the lottery filed more than 300 complaints against unlicensed betting sites and promoters. According to the agency, more than 80% of online gambling activity in the province is illegal.
Atanasof said many of these operations are based in offshore jurisdictions such as Malta and Curaçao, complicating enforcement efforts.
He stated: "We want to tackle illegality and for that we must consider how to pursue it, how to establish effective tools for judges and, if necessary, whether new legislation is required."
Atanasof has a background in politics and legislative work, which adds institutional weight to his warnings on youth gambling and online regulation
