Gaming commission warns: ‘This is not just a mistake’
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26 Mar 2025 •
Reading time: 2 minutes You would think a school website is safe. Yet gambling adverts suddenly pop up. Illegal casinos use hackers to hide their ads on ordinary websites. And no one notices, until it is too late.
The Belgian Gaming Commission (GC) got busier than ever recently. They saw hackers hijacking websites to secretly redirect people to illegal gambling sites. And no, these are not innocent bugs. They’re pure scams.
They target schools, blogs, and small organisations. Places people visit every day. And which are often poorly secured.
Schools don’t get it
The other day, a school headmaster reported in a panic:
‘Our website suddenly shows advertising for a casino in Curaçao!’
They had no idea how that had got there.
The GC does know. According to them, criminals use clever tricks. They hack your site and hide links that automatically redirect your visitors. Sometimes you don’t even notice.
‘Often websites are not properly secured,’ says a spokesperson for the GC. ‘And then you are an easy target.’
What is the Gaming Commission doing?
The GC is on top of things. If they discover such a case, they immediately notify the owner of the hacked site. Then they scrutinise the gambling site. If it turns out to be illegal, it gets blacklisted.
But they’re fighting a losing battle. Those illegal sites keep changing their name, location and appearance.
‘You block one, and the next day there are two new ones,’ says the spokesperson.
It’s like digital whack-a-mole.
Alerting people is just as important
That is why the GC wants to do more than just chase. They want to wake people up. Show how dangerous these gambling sites are.
It’s not just about losing money. These sites can also steal your data or infect your computer. You might think, ‘Oh well, it’s just a gambling site.’ But before you know it, you are in the middle of a digital trap.
Through their website, they are now setting up awareness campaigns. Honest info, simple explanations, without difficult words. So that everyone understands what they are dealing with.
Check it out for yourself 👉 https://www.gamingcommission.be/en/protection-of-players/campaigns