Hackers use Belgian webshops to promote illegal casinos
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8 Aug 2025 •
Reading time: 2 minutes Hackers linked to illegal online casinos have shifted their focus. Whereas they previously attacked school websites, they are now targeting Belgian webshops.
This is according to research by Gambling Club. We discovered several hacked sites. Hackers place a hidden link to an illegal casino behind an existing URL.
In this way, they abuse reputable webshops to direct traffic to dubious gambling sites.
Misuse of Betano name puts users at risk
During a simple search for Betano Casino, a legal provider in Belgium, results for fake versions of this site immediately appeared.
These fake sites use the name Betano, but lead to illegal platforms. For example, Sticker.be, a well-known webshop, fell victim to these attacks. Their server was quietly modified by hackers.
Visitors did not notice anything, but Google indexed the hacked pages on the first page of the search results.
Webshop responds immediately after discovery of hack
The editors of Gambling Club warned Sticker.be about the hack. The webshop immediately removed the incorrect page.
A spokesperson for Sticker.be responded openly:
‘We are glad we were notified in time. We have experienced this before. It appears to be a leak at the server level.’
According to the spokesperson, many hacked sites use standard platforms such as WordPress. This makes it easier for hackers to gain access.
Open source systems remain a risk for small businesses
Webshops with open source CMSs such as WordPress are vulnerable. Hackers automatically search for weak spots.
Once they are in, they add new pages without anyone noticing. Companies without their own IT team are particularly at risk.
Many affected companies are not even aware of the attack until customers or search engines notice strange links.
Similar attacks on schools in the past
Gambling Club has previously exposed several attacks on school websites. See, for example, the KOG school and the IEPS Libramont hacks.
These hacks followed the same pattern: well-known domains were misused to promote illegal gambling services.