George Pataki and James Thackston

Internet gambling provides an anonymous forum for bad actors to move money undetected.

Games can be rigged using pre-determined winners and losers to launder money

Congress needs to protect families and innocent bystanders caught up in criminal schemes.

Online gambling might be coming to a computer near you, and while it may seem like the only risk is on the player, the FBI fears it will be used by terrorists and organized crime rings to launder money.

In a September 2013 letter to Congress, the FBI warned that while many industries are vulnerable to money laundering, Internet gambling goes a step further by providing an anonymous forum for bad actors to move money undetected: "Online gambling, therefore, may provide more opportunities for criminals to launder illicit proceeds with increased anonymity. Individuals may use a wide array of mechanisms to conceal their physical location, or give the appearance of operating in a different jurisdiction, when accessing a website."

So, could innocent Americans find themselves gambling with dangerous criminals or terrorists and unknowingly help them move money? In New Jersey alone, which just legalized Internet gambling two months ago, the number of accounts has already reached nearly 150,000. And Internet gambling is rapidly expanding across the country, with other state legislatures looking at it this session.

My co-author, James Thackston, a technology professional with a background in the aerospace, manufacturing and energy industries, has briefed the FBI and congressional staff on exactly how criminals — even terrorists — could use Internet gambling sites to move huge sums of money, thwarting website operators and their regulators. He wasrecently joined by a group of experts, including a post-Sept. 11 anti-terrorism coordinator active in investigating and prosecuting illegal offshore online commercial gambling enterprises, in calling on Congress to weigh the law enforcement impacts of Internet gambling.

Thackston has demonstrated in chilling detail how games can be rigged using pre-determined winners and losers to move money between each other and spoof their physical locations.

It all begins with the "money mule," a person hired by a terror or criminal organization to open a bank account and Internet poker account under a legitimate identity. Here's how just one of many possible scenarios would play out:

Money "mules" are hired by colluders to sign up for online poker, provide the colluders with their log-in info, install software that allows the user to mask their geographic location, and then simply leave their computer on at all times so that it can be remotely controlled by the colluders from any location around the world. The mules never play, but have a legitimate account under their own name.

The collaborators use devices called "frame grabbers" or Internet-enabled cameras to see what cards his or her partners are holding.

Since cell phones are easily tracked by law enforcement, sophisticated money launderers would likely use custom-built messaging systems.

Once the money is "won," it is in the mule accounts. It is then removed from the online poker account where it can be cashed out or deposited into the mules' bank accounts to then be removed again so they may pay the criminal or terrorist group backing them. There would be no reason for the federal government to flag this action since the money was "legitimately" acquired in an online poker game.

In the same letter, the FBI said: "Online casinos are vulnerable to a wide array of criminal schemes. For example, criminals may participate in games with exclusively criminal players, exchanging money to launder criminal proceeds…Individuals may use a wide array of mechanisms to conceal their physical location, or give the appearance of operating in a different jurisdiction, when accessing a website…some sophisticated methods would be difficult to readily identify or deter."

We should take the FBI at its word. There are sophisticated technologies that can be employed by terrorist groups and criminal organizations to move money undetected, conceal their physical locations, and entangle unwitting online players.

The FBI's warning is part of a growing body of evidence that demonstrates the dangers the expansion of Internet gambling poses to our national security. Internet gambling is moving full tilt without any consideration of the many and varied law enforcement impacts. Congress needs to do the responsible thing to protect American families and the innocent bystanders caught up in criminal schemes online. It must move swiftly to restore the long-standing federal ban on all forms of Internet gambling.

Former New York Gov. George Pataki is a national co-chair of the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling. James Thackston is a software engineer. The coalition is backed by Sheldon Adelson, owner of casino company Las Vegas Sands Corp.

In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors. To read more columns like this, go to the opinion front page or follow us on twitter @USATopinion or Facebook.