WORCESTER - At the end of a worn strip mall, next to a vacant furniture store, a post office, and a tanning salon, Net Play Cafe looks like an Internet cafe from the 1990s. A sign in the window invites customers to surf the Web, check e-mail, or send a fax.
Inside, however, about 30 computer terminals blink with brightly colored poker- and slot-like games. A few patrons swipe their fingers across the computers’ touch screens, whiling away the afternoon and hoping to win a few bucks.
“We have nothing great local, unless it’s a bar, so this is nice,’’ said one regular, Rose Gleason, 51. “We sit and laugh and joke about things… . It’s relaxing.’’
It is also illegal, according to authorities, who have begun cracking down on these so-called cybercafes, calling them little more than thinly veiled gambling operations that exploit patrons and run the risk of laundering money.
The State Police have raided three cybercafes this year and are conducting criminal investigations into their owners, one of whom is a longtime Fall River city councilor.
The cafes - which have proliferated in Florida, Virginia, and other states - began cropping up in Massachusetts about two years ago. At least a dozen have opened in the state, often in strip malls in blue-collar communities. Since the raids in March, several have closed down on their own. At least four are still operating.
Attorney General Martha Coakley says they violate the state’s existing ban on gambling, and issued regulations in June, saying she needed to make that prohibition explicit.
Last week, House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, the state’s foremost proponent of expanded gambling, introduced legislation that would subject anyone running a cybercafe to a fine of $250,000 per computer terminal or a prison term of 15 years.
“This kind of activity, gambling, is not allowed under Massachusetts law,’’ Coakley said Wednesday. “They are totally unregulated, there’s no oversight, and there is no protection for the consumer.’’
The cafes sell patrons Internet time on cards, which they can swipe to gain access to the Web. Most, however, use the cards to play casino-style games with names such as “Trick or Treat’’ and “Irish Luck.’’ Patrons win points on the cards and then redeem them for cash, up to $5,000, according to one cafe owner.
The owners insist that the businesses are legal, but they are under mounting pressure from law enforcement officials in this and other states. Many say their days in business may be numbered.
“I feel it’s a legal, legitimate business, and we’ll see what shakes out,’’ said Matthew Durand, who owns Worcester’s Net Play Cafe.
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