How many illegal gambling sites does the Gambling Commission actually take down? Between April 2025 and March 2026 it reported 338,272 web addresses to search engines, and 266,595 of them were removed from results. It also issued 494 cease and desist notices to operators and 247 to advertisers and affiliate websites. What it cannot yet do is block a domain.

The phrase “gambling scams UK” covers more than unlicensed casinos, and the commission’s figures count something narrower than a closed website. A removed address is not a shut site, a notice is not a penalty, and the year saw one prosecution. This guide covers the kinds of scam, what the quarterly numbers show, whether takedowns work and what domain-blocking powers will change.

Gambling scams UK players meet

“Gambling scam” is not a legal term. The commission speaks of illegal gambling, and at least four different problems sit under the label.

  • Sites without a licence. Section 33 of the Gambling Act 2005 makes it an offence to provide facilities for gambling unless the act allows it. The penalty is up to 51 weeks in prison in England and Wales (six months in Scotland), a fine up to level 5 on the standard scale, or both. The offence is aimed at the business providing the gambling.
  • Sites that claim a licence they do not hold. A Gambling Commission warning in 2016 described a website as “not licensed by the Gambling Commission despite claiming that it is on its website”, and the commission issued a similar notice in 2018. The pattern is a claim, not a licence.
  • Recovery scams. Fraudsters approach people who have already lost money and say they can get it back. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) describes ‘recovery rooms’ that “insist on being paid a fee or transaction charge before carrying out any services”.
  • Fee schemes and false identities. The commission’s scams and fraud guidance (last updated 15 June 2021) says “Some money-making schemes will ask for a monthly fee in return for digital scratchcards”, and that “Unauthorised gambling businesses are likely to use false names, addresses and contact numbers.”

Two limits apply. The commission regulates gambling in Great Britain, so Northern Ireland appears only where the rules differ. And this guide does not say whether a player commits an offence by using a site. It describes what the commission licenses and what a player loses outside that. Unlicensed casinos and the risks they carry looks at the sites themselves.

The commission’s enforcement figures for 2025 to 2026

The commission publishes a quarterly table of its action against unlicensed gambling. The figures below come from its activity to tackle unlicensed gambling page, accessed on 9 October 2026. The totals are the sum of the four quarterly figures.

MeasureApr to Jun 2025Jul to Sep 2025Oct to Dec 2025Jan to Mar 2026Total
URLs reported to search engines32,608117,711117,64570,308338,272
URLs removed from search engines25,43163,530118,81458,820266,595
Websites reported to search engines321272123226942
Websites removed from search engines214246167152779
Cease and desist notices to operators14515010198494
Cease and desist notices to advertisers and affiliates77665351247
Websites geo-blocked by the operator108633027228
Websites removed or suspended by a registrar or host22208353
Prosecutions00101

The terms need care. A URL is a single web address, and one website can account for many of them, which is why the URL rows run into the hundreds of thousands and the website rows into the hundreds. “Removed” means a page no longer appears in search results. The commission’s own report says removal makes a site harder to find but does not fully block access.

Removals do not line up with reports quarter by quarter: in October to December 2025 search engines removed 118,814 URLs after 117,645 were reported. The rows cannot be turned into a success rate.

The table leaves out some lines. Over the year the commission made 442 referrals to registrars and hosts and issued three cease and desist notices to payment providers, all in July to September 2025. It recorded two instances of payment provision being removed or disrupted, started two criminal investigations and, in October to December 2025, recorded one prosecution. The table does not say who was prosecuted or how the case ended.

The newest quarter is reported on its own. In April to June 2026 the commission referred 147,721 URLs and 366 websites to search engines, and 19,678 URLs and 276 websites were removed. It issued 217 cease and desist notices to operators and 73 to advertisers and affiliates, with no criminal investigations and no prosecutions. For a player the figures show scale, not safety.

Does taking sites down work?

The commission has tried to measure it. For approximately 160 illegal gambling websites with traffic estimates, it found an average fall of 32% in engagement following disruption. The sample covers sites disrupted since December 2024, and the size of the fall depends heavily on the method.

MethodAverage fall in engagementWebsites in sample
Blocked by registrar91%8
Website suspended91%8
Geo-blocked60%53
Removed by Bing52%28
Removed by Google30%80
Removed by Facebook8%57

The two methods with the largest effect were measured on eight websites each, while removal from Google, the largest group at 80 websites, averaged 30%. An average fall of 32% still leaves most of the traffic in place.

The commission is cautious about its own numbers. A website can face several measures at once, so one method’s effect may reflect another, and the figures rest on web traffic estimates. Geo-blocking works less well where visitors use a virtual private network (VPN). The summary of disruption activity says the results give “an idea of which activities are more impactful”.

A second study looked at demand. The commission estimated that just over 1,000 unique illegal gambling websites were accessed by consumers in Great Britain between May 2024 and July 2025, and reported that “There was no overall increase in engagement in illegal online websites by consumers from Great Britain”. It calls the methodology “in development” with early-stage estimates, and notes that VPN use and apps are not captured. That is a reason to read the result as a first estimate.

Who illegal gambling sites are aimed at

Tim Miller of the commission told the ICE Barcelona industry conference on 19 January 2026 that “a major part of the audience for illegal gambling websites and apps are people who are already self-excluded”. Research the commission published on 18 September 2025 points the same way. It combined online surveys of 1,007 people who had gambled online (April 2024) and 2,046 (December 2024) with interviews and focus groups.

The research found that people who have self-excluded mainly use search engines to find “not on GAMSTOP” websites, and report heavy direct marketing and targeted social media advertising. The motives given included better odds and offers and cryptocurrency, as well as “the desire to circumvent protection measures such as self-exclusion” and “lower barriers to entry such as minimal age or ID verification processes”.

Awareness of the illegal market was low, and some respondents mistakenly named licensed operators when asked to name illegal sites they had used. The report gives no percentages for these motives, so the findings show what people reported, not how common each reason is.

Being shown one of these adverts says nothing about the person who sees it, and being targeted is not their fault. If gambling is affecting you or someone close to you, the National Gambling Helpline, run by GamCare, offers free and confidential support on 0808 8020 133.

New powers to block domains: what the Crime and Policing Act 2026 changes

Today the commission works through the services around a site. Its disruption report says referrals to search engines and social media companies are the most frequent measures. A cease and desist notice gives an operator 48 hours to implement geo-blocking, and the next step is to identify the registrar and host. The commission also “works with partners to trace payments made on illegal sites during test purchasing exercises”.

This guide found no public list of illegal sites to check. A freedom of information request for data about illegal betting websites received the response “Information withheld”.

Schedule 18 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 is headed “Suspension of internet protocol addresses and internet domain names”. It provides for orders suspending an IP address or a domain name for up to 12 months, with extensions possible. In England and Wales the applicants include an enforcement officer appointed by the commission, alongside police and other agencies. In Scotland the application comes from the procurator fiscal. In Northern Ireland the commission is not among the applicants.

Miller told the conference that the powers, once enacted, will let the commission obtain orders to suspend IP addresses and domain names linked to illegal gambling, and that the government had added “an additional £26 million of funding over the next three years”. The schedule is not yet in force. On 9 October 2026 legislation.gov.uk still marked its provisions as not in force at Royal Assent and gave no commencement date. Domain blocking cannot yet be used, and this guide does not say how it will apply to any particular website.

What you lose without a licence

A licensed business has a route for complaints. The commission’s guidance says to complain to the business first, and the business has eight weeks from receiving a complaint to resolve it. After that the complaint can go to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provider, “a free, independent service”. Online businesses have also had to participate in Gamstop as a licence condition since 31 March 2020.

Without a licence none of that applies. There is no complaints process, no ADR provider, no Gamstop and no assurance that winnings will be paid. Only the bank and the police remain.

A claim to be licensed is not proof. The commission’s guidance says licensed businesses “must display that they are licensed and also provide a link to our public register”. A licence number or logo in a footer can be copied, so the public register is the source to trust. Look the business up and check that its activities and website address match the site in front of you. Gambling businesses have been banned from letting customers in Great Britain gamble with credit cards since 14 April 2020, so a site that accepts them is a reason to check the register before paying. What a Gambling Commission licence means for you explains what the register shows.

Where to report a gambling scam and where to get help

Where to report depends on what happened. Keep every email, screenshot and payment receipt, and note the date on each, because a report without dates is hard to follow up.

  1. If you lost money to a scam or handed over personal information, report it to Report Fraud. It replaced Action Fraud on 4 December 2025, covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and is on 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, contact Police Scotland on 101.
  2. If money was stolen and spent on gambling, the commission says it is a criminal matter and you should contact the police: 999 in an emergency and 101 otherwise.
  3. If someone offers to recover lost money for a fee, the FCA advises you to “end all contact immediately and do not pay any money or provide any banking details”. Its consumer helpline is 0800 111 6768.
  4. Ask your bank whether a payment to the site can be disputed. The bank decides, and nothing here promises an outcome. Where to report a gambling scam and what to ask your bank goes through it step by step.
  5. Report the site itself to the commission. Its contact page lists “Unlicensed gambling or criminality activity” among the things to report. Complaints about a licensed business follow the complaints process described above.

If gambling is affecting you or someone close to you, the National Gambling Helpline offers free and confidential support on 0808 8020 133. This guide gives general information and is not legal advice.

Questions about gambling scams in the UK

How many illegal gambling websites were removed from search results in 2025 to 2026?

Search engines removed 779 websites after the commission referred 942 between April 2025 and March 2026, and 266,595 URLs were removed from results. Removal from search results is not the same as closing a site, which can stay online.

Can the Gambling Commission block illegal gambling websites?

Not directly at present. It refers sites to search engines, registrars and hosts and issues cease and desist notices. Schedule 18 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 provides for orders suspending IP addresses and domain names, but on 9 October 2026 it was not in force and legislation.gov.uk gave no commencement date.

Do takedowns stop the gambling scams UK players meet?

Not fully. The commission measured an average fall of 32% in engagement after disruption, from 91% for registrar blocks to 8% for removal by Facebook. Removal from search results makes a site harder to find without blocking access.

Is there a public list of illegal gambling sites in the UK?

This guide found no list published by the commission. A freedom of information request for data about illegal betting websites received the response “Information withheld”. The public register lists licensed businesses only, so it can confirm that a licence exists but cannot flag a site that is missing from it.

What is a recovery scam?

Fraudsters approach people who have already lost money and say they can get it back for a fee. The FCA says such “recovery rooms” insist on payment before any service and advises ending contact and paying nothing. The FCA page is about investments, so it describes a pattern to recognise, not a gambling finding.

What should you do if a gambling site claims a licence it does not hold?

Look the business up on the commission’s public register and check that its activities and website address match the site. If they do not, avoid paying and report it. A scam goes to Report Fraud, or Police Scotland on 101 in Scotland.

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