Commission ramps up action against illegal gambling profits and assets
09 November 2026
Efforts to crackdown on illegal gambling will increasingly "follow the money" as well as taking down illegal websites, the Gambling Commission has told leading industry figures.
Marking the start of the first Illegal Gambling Awareness Week (opens in new tab) (9-13 November), the Commission confirmed that it has started broadening its focus beyond website disruption to targeting the money, assets and business models that support illegal operators.
Having briefed UK industry leaders at last week's CEO Briefing event as well as international partners at the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) Conference last month, Sue Young, Executive Director of Operations, said:
"If you run an illegal gambling operation, we are coming after you, your business and your money.
"We've already shown we can take down and disrupt individual websites and now we're going further.
"That means us interfering with illegal operators' whole business models, disrupting their payments, hindering their advertising and stopping them from obtaining the games and sportsbooks they so heavily rely on.
"Since January we have already referred over £40 million of suspected criminal funds to partner agencies for potential asset freezing as well as continuing to work with law enforcement agencies to seize cash at illegal land-based gambling operations.
"By widening the net and focusing beyond removing websites our mission is to hit illegal operators on all sides."
The wider approach builds on significant disruption activity already undertaken by the Commission and its partners which is designed to better protect consumers, support legitimate licensed operators and tackle criminality linked to illegal gambling to build a crime-free market.
Progress to date includes, more than:
- 1,000 cease and desist notices issued to illegal operators in 2026/27 so far
- 7.8 million URLs referred to search engines
- 3 million URLs removed from search results
- 2,200 websites referred for disruption action.
Additionally:
- URL referrals have increased from 147,721 in Quarter 1 to 7.7 million in Quarter 2 (representing an increase of more than 5,000%)
- more than £40 million in suspected criminal funds referred to partner agencies for potential asset freezing since January.
The inaugural Illegal Gambling Awareness Week (IGAW) (opens in new tab), a new international campaign led by IAGR, is aimed at raising awareness of the risks posed by illegal gambling and strengthening collaboration between regulators, industry and law enforcement around the world.
The Gambling Commission supports IGAW as an opportunity to highlight the risks illegal gambling presents to consumers and the industry alongside the significant action being taken to disrupt illegal operators targeting those living in Great Britain.
The Commission will continue to work closely with law enforcement agencies, the gambling industry, technology companies and the financial sector to identify and disrupt illegal gambling activity. Wider efforts include increased collaboration on intelligence sharing, early reporting, data and evidence support, strategic engagement and consumer protection which will be critical to delivering long-term impact.
IGAW kicks off after publication last week of new findings from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain and an updated illegal gambling dashboard which provide further evidence to support enforcement activity and track progress in disrupting illegal markets.
Last updated: 9 November 2026
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