Frank Kruit, an affiliate and SEO expert in the casino industry, has spotted a worrying phenomenon: legal online casinos in the Netherlands are being impersonated on Trustpilot. Half of all licensed operators are seeing their brands exploited fraudulently.
A systematic modus operandi
In each case, the offending profiles follow the same pattern. They start by displaying their location as being in the Netherlands, with a generic Outlook email address as their point of contact, often something like mpkalazo61189@outlook.com. But the most insidious part is the link on the Trustpilot profile: instead of leading to the casino’s official website, it points to a dubious affiliate subdomain.
These profiles have a TrustScore of around 4.0, always feature three to six five-star reviews, all of which are glowing, and are ‘claimed’, meaning they are actively managed. What’s more, several reviews come from the same accounts.
Who is behind this network? Frank Kruit‘s theory is that there is a single operator orchestrating both the fraudulent Trustpilot profiles and the affiliate pages that redirect to unauthorised casinos: Trueluck, Newlucky and Winhero.
Why does this threaten legitimate casinos?
This reputation hijacking has serious repercussions. Legal casinos that comply with regulatory standards in the Netherlands are indirectly associated with malicious practices. Fake positive reviews distort consumer perception and can divert potential customers to unauthorised entities. This phenomenon erodes trust, reinforcing a misleading image of the legal market.
What can aggrieved operators do?
Resolving this issue depends on enhanced cooperation between the various players: review platforms, search engines, regulators and reputable operators. Each has a key role to play in restoring transparency. Without this, the digital landscape risks sinking into chaos where lies prevail and sincerity becomes inaudible.
What is the situation in Belgium?
The phenomenon does not stop at the Dutch border. There are worrying signs that Belgian casinos are also being targeted by this fraudulent strategy, including Lucky Games, 36 Win and Panache. As with Dutch operators, the name of this licensed casino is being misused in fake Trustpilot profiles that claim to be official. These profiles display the same suspicious characteristics: generic email addresses, outgoing links redirecting to unauthorised affiliate sites and a handful of fake glowing reviews. This digital impersonation jeopardises the reputation of a Belgian operator that is in good standing, causing confusion among players and diverting their trust to illegal platforms.