Report
Illegal online gambling - Phase 1: Exploring consumer pathways into using illegal gambling websites
The Gambling Commission's report on the first phase of the Consumer Voice illegal gambling project.
Awareness of illegal online website usage
In the quantitative survey, respondents were provided with a simplified version of the Gambling Commission’s criteria for licensing a gambling website1:
- gambling websites that are licensed by the Commission typically include the Commission’s logo on their site (which was shown to respondents), as well as their account number with the Commission
- the Commission requires licensees to be on GAMSTOP, provide safer gambling tools, and safe deposit and withdrawal methods.
When prompted with this explanation, a total of 81 percent of the 1,007 respondents reported that they currently only gamble with licensed websites: 73 percent reported that they only use licensed websites, and 8 percent reported that they only used licensed websites, but would not rule out using illegal websites in the future, as shown in Figure 1.
4 percent of respondents reported that they only gamble with unlicensed websites; 5 percent reported that they use both licensed and unlicensed websites; and 6 percent reported that they used to use unlicensed websites, but no longer do. 4 percent of respondents selected ‘prefer not to say’.
Figure 1: Whether respondents had used unlicensed websites, based on the explanation provided about licensing requirements in the quantitative survey
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Prefer not to say | 4% |
| I only ever gamble on websites that I know are licensed | 73% |
| I have never gambled using unlicensed websites before, but would not rule it out in future | 8% |
| I have previously gambled using unlicensed websites but don’t anymore | 6% |
| I gamble using both licensed and unlicensed websites | 5% |
| I gamble using both licensed and unlicensed websites | 4% |
Note. As previously mentioned, consumers were asked about ‘licensed’ and ‘unlicensed’ websites, rather than using the term ‘illegal’.
Base size: 1,007 respondents
Respondents who indicated that they have used illegal websites were asked to list the names of the websites they had used; some of the websites listed (6 out of 36) were in fact licensed by the Commission. This indicates that it can be difficult for consumers to identify the difference between a licensed and illegal website. Similarly, in the qualitative interviews, there were examples of people who gamble often only realising they have used an illegaly site when something goes wrong.
“I only thought twice about whether the site was licensed when it took a while for them to pay out. I’ve just gone to have another look at the site now and have seen it’s been taken down.”
Female, aged 35 to 44, Problem Gambling Severity Index Score (PGSI) 24
References
1This does not cover the complexity or entirety of the Commission’s licensing assessment process; however, to ensure clear comprehension for respondents, the requirements were simplified in the survey question text. For exact wording of the Commission’s licence conditions, see the [/licensees-and-businesses/lccp](Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP)).
Potential indicators of illegal gambling activity
Last updated: 18 September 2025
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