Casino and bingo sites also cloned in the UK
A growing number of reputable bingo and casino sites in the UK are being cloned by fraudsters who exploit high-authority expired domains, redirecting players to unlicensed platforms.
The British gambling sector is facing another significant intervention. The government is considering increasing license fees for gambling operators by 30%. The goal is not to generate profit, but to fund the battle against illegal gambling.
A hidden economy of more than €80 billion. That is the estimate of what circulates annually in illegal online gambling within Europe. For the first time, regulators from Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and Britain, among others, are jointly sounding the alarm.
The Conseil d’État has annulled the Royal Decree of 2022, which strictly regulated sports betting in press shops in order to combat ‘fake press shops’. The high court ruled that the government had exceeded its powers by defining criteria that were the responsibility of the legislator. This decision creates an immediate legal vacuum in the gambling sector.
The contrast could hardly be greater. While Tipico proudly announced that it has joined the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), in Germany the lawsuits are piling up. More than six thousand players are claiming money back, and criticism of the gambling company is growing.
In 2025, the Gaming Commission (GC) increased the number of updates to its blacklist of unauthorised sites. More than 160 sites were blocked during the year.
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