Of those online gamblers, 2.5% had engaged with illegal sites in the previous four weeks and a further 1.5% earlier in the year, while across the whole population, including non-gamblers, the figures were 0.6% and 0.4% respectively. Use was higher among men and younger adults, especially those aged 18 to 24, and the regulator said searches for sites “not on Gamstop” were a common route to illegal operators, alongside interest in crypto gambling.
The data comes from the UKGC’s new Illegal Gambling Index, which uses seven behavioral indicators, such as gambling with cryptocurrency, using a VPN to reach restricted sites, and playing without age or identity checks, to catch consumers who may not realize they are using unlicensed operators.
Sue Young, Executive Director for Operations at the Gambling Commission, said:
“While engagement with the illegal market from an overall population perspective appears low and stable from these indicators, there is a cohort of online gamblers who use these sites, and research suggests those consumers who use illegal operators are more likely to experience harm.”
The regulator will update its Illegal Gambling Data Dashboard every six months and plans to extend monitoring to affiliates, advertising, payment providers, and hosting services. Its latest enforcement data shows 7.7 million illegal gambling URLs were reported to search engines between July and September, up from 147,721 in the previous quarter.
