A new study has found that illegal gambling in the UK has grown by 345 per cent since 2022 and now controls 9 per cent of Great Britain’s £8.2 billion online gambling marketplace.
The report, commissioned by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG), reveals that the main drivers for the illegal sector come from two audiences: under 18s and self-excluded players.
The UK has a GAMSTOP self-exclusion scheme, similar to that in operation through BetStop in Australia and the report said a large number of those accessing illegal gambling are people who had registered for GAMSTOP.
“The illegal sector does not compete with established brand names here. It targets the vulnerable underage and self-excluded groups, pushing the most addictive content via “Casinos not on Gamstop” marketing,” Derek Webb, founder of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, commented.
Ismail Vali, founder and chief executive of Yield Sec, who conducted the study, said there was no reason why ordinary wagering customers would choose to go to illegal sites.
“Crime only targets those consumers who have bad reasons for requiring illegal gambling operators: they are under 18 and they are on the GAMSTOP self-exclusion scheme. Crime loves this audience as they are now plentiful, have no legal options and are incredibly cheap to market to,” he said.
“Nearly all of that growth is attributable to the “Not on GAMSTOP” phenomenon. The abuse and exploitation of vulnerable communities is the main thing here – the growth of crime from targeting those communities is a failure of oversight and control from those with the marketplace duty to do so.”
