Lot of Happiness usurped by fraudsters
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2 Sep 2025 •
Reading time: 3 minutes A new illegal advert has appeared in the Netherlands, using a fraudulent copy of Lot of Happiness to redirect Internet users to unauthorised online casinos.
A few days ago, Frank Kruit, an SEO expert determined to combat illegal offers, spotted a suspicious new ad circulating online. By clicking on it on the phone, users are immediately redirected to a referral site saturated with links to illegal casinos. At the top of the page is the well-known name of Vegas Hero, an operator that regularly appears in this type of advertising set-up.
The ploy is not new. In a recent case linked to the Staatsloterij, a similar manoeuvre came to light: the fraudsters reproduce the official site of a national lottery identically, modifying only the URL. This time, the target is Lot of Happiness, a genuine Dutch lottery whose visual identity and content have been unscrupulously cloned.
Clones of official sites to inspire trust
The offending site, yourfreelots.nl, is a near-perfect replica of the Lot of Happiness platform when accessed on a computer. The text, layout and logos are all the same. The only differences are the web address and a tiny logo. But when you access the site via advertising, the curtain falls and the reality comes out: the site is full of links to illegal gambling operators.
This cloning technique has just one objective: to deceive Internet users by giving them the impression that they are on a reliable, recognised site. The trust-building effect is immediate, especially in a sector where official brands enjoy a high level of credibility.
A player already known to the authorities
Behind this operation is Mobi-tek Modern bilgisayar iletisim teknoloji hizmetleri limited Sirketi, a marketing company already identified in similar cases. It was also implicated in the previous case involving the Staatsloterij.
This recurrence raises questions. How can a player who has already been singled out by the authorities continue to run ads on large-scale advertising channels? The fact that the same names keep cropping up highlights a flaw in the verification chain.
Google criticised
The role of the major platforms, and Google in particular, is at the heart of the controversy. In this particular case, despite the advertiser’s track record, the ad was once again shown in the sponsored results.
For industry observers, this situation is surprising, not to say shocking. It was expected that a company sanctioned for such abuses would be permanently banned from online advertising. Instead, these players continue to find visibility, helping to fuel a vicious circle in which consumers are regularly exposed to illegal offers.Lot of Happiness has been informed of the situation and has decided to take action. The illegal advertising has also been withdrawn.