What should you do first if a gambling site has taken your money and not paid it back? Call your bank, using the number on your card or statement. Then report the scam to Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040 if you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, or to Police Scotland on 101 if you live in Scotland. Tell the bank how you paid, because that decides which route applies.

This guide sets out how to report a gambling scam in the UK, what to ask a bank about card payments and bank transfers and what the Gambling Commission can and cannot do. Report Fraud replaced Action Fraud on 4 December 2025, so older advice that names Action Fraud is out of date. Nobody can promise that lost money will come back. This guide gives general information and is not legal or financial advice.

Sites without a licence are covered in more depth in the guides on unlicensed casinos and gambling scams.

Is it a scam, or a dispute with a licensed casino?

It depends on whether the business holds a Gambling Commission licence. A licensed business that has delayed or refused a payment starts out as a dispute, which it has to deal with through its complaints process. A site with no licence has no such process, so the bank and the police are the routes that remain.

The test takes a minute. Licensed businesses “must display that they are licensed and also provide a link to our public register”, the commission says in its guide for players. Search for the business in the register, then compare the web address on the record with the one in your browser. The commission’s advice in what to look at before you gamble (last updated 23 August 2021) is to check that the licence details, “including activities and website domain names”, match the public register.

If the business is licensed, start with its own complaints process. The commission says that “The gambling business has 8 weeks to resolve your complaint from when they receive it”, and an unresolved complaint may then go to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provider, according to its complaints guide. The full route is in how to complain about a licensed gambling company.

What you lose without a licence is concrete: no complaints process, no ADR provider, no link to Gamstop and no assurance that you will be paid. The commission also warns that “Unauthorised gambling businesses are likely to use false names, addresses and contact numbers”, in its page on scams and fraud (last updated 15 June 2021).

What should you do straight away?

Stop paying, call the bank and keep dated records. Those steps come before any report, because a bank can only act on a payment it knows about, and both card disputes and transfer claims carry time limits. Work through it in order.

  1. Stop paying. Send nothing more to the site, and pay no “release fee” or “tax” to receive winnings. An upfront fee is the pattern the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) describes in recovery scams, covered below.
  2. Call your bank on the number printed on your card or statement. If the contact began with an unexpected phone call about money, 159 connects you with your bank and covers more than 99% of UK retail bank current accounts. Stop Scams UK says 159 “provides an easy route back to safety when you get an unexpected phone call about a financial matter” (page last modified 15 September 2026). Say plainly that you think you have been scammed.
  3. Secure your accounts. If the site or its “support” staff received your email address, passwords or banking details, change them. Do not enter personal information on a suspicious site.
  4. Save a dated record. Screenshot the site and your account, copy the web address and keep emails, chat transcripts and payment receipts showing amount, date, method and recipient. Note the names and numbers of anyone who called. A complaint without dates is hard to follow up.
  5. Report the scam to Report Fraud or Police Scotland, as set out in the next section.
  6. Report the website to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which takes suspicious websites through its report a scam website page at no cost. It adds to step 5 and does not replace it: the NCSC states that “You should not report a crime to the NCSC in this way.”

Where do you report a gambling scam in the UK?

Report it to Report Fraud if you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, and to Police Scotland if you live in Scotland. Report Fraud went live on 4 December 2025. Its announcement says that “Report Fraud has replaced Action Fraud, for use in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.”

Where you liveWho to report toHow
England, Wales or Northern IrelandReport FraudOnline at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040
ScotlandPolice ScotlandCall 101
Anywhere, if someone is in danger nowThe policeCall 999

Northern Ireland sits with England and Wales for fraud reports. That differs from gambling licences, which the commission issues for Great Britain only. Report Fraud’s homepage gives the Scotland instruction: “If you live in Scotland, please report via 101.” Its announcement of the service says that people in Scotland should continue to call Police Scotland on 101, and the National Cyber Security Centre gives the same instruction on its page for reporting a scam website.

For an emergency, call 999. The commission’s page for victims of crime (last updated 15 June 2021) gives 999 for emergencies and 101 for non-emergencies. The same page covers a different case: “If money has been stolen from you or your company and has then been spent on gambling, it is a criminal matter”. If someone used your card or account without your knowledge, say so when you report.

Report Fraud says: “Tell us what happened and we’ll help you report it to the police.” None of the pages read for this guide says whether a report leads to an investigation or to money being returned.

What should you ask your bank?

Start by saying how you paid, because a bank treats a card payment and a bank transfer differently. Then ask whether the payment can be disputed or claimed back, and by when. The bank decides each case, and none of the routes below is a guarantee.

If you paid by card

A card payment can sometimes be disputed through a chargeback, which the Financial Ombudsman Service describes as “a way of disputing transactions through the card scheme”. Its guidance for businesses refers to “relevant time limits or deadlines” but gives no figure. Ask the bank for the deadline on the first call. A dispute through the card scheme follows the scheme’s rules, so no bank can promise the result.

If you paid by bank transfer

Transfers over Faster Payments or CHAPS fall under a separate reimbursement scheme for authorised push payment (APP) scams. The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) defines these as cases where “someone is tricked into sending money to a fraudster posing as a genuine payee”, on its APP scams page. Card payments are outside the scheme and have their own protections.

The PSR’s page for consumers sets the main terms. The scheme applies to payments made on or after 7 October 2024. A claim must be made within 13 months of the fraudulent payment. The bank may apply an excess of up to £100, which cannot be applied to a vulnerable customer. Two exclusions matter here: civil disputes, such as a supplier failing to deliver with no intent to defraud, and cases where the customer was complicit or grossly negligent.

No source read for this guide says whether a payment to a gambling site that later fails to pay winnings counts as an APP scam or as a civil dispute. The bank decides, so put the question to it directly.

If you paid another way

E-wallets, cryptocurrency and other methods have their own rules, and none of the sources read for this guide sets them out. Ask the provider what it can do and by when. A payment made without your knowledge, such as one on a card someone else used, is a different category, so say which it was.

Whatever the method, these questions cover the ground:

  1. Ask whether the payment can be disputed or claimed back, and what the deadline is.
  2. Ask whether the bank treats it as a card dispute or as an APP scam claim.
  3. Ask what evidence the bank needs and how to send it.
  4. Ask whether the bank can block further payments to the same merchant, or to gambling businesses generally.
  5. Ask for a reference number for the claim.
  6. Ask when an answer is due.

Give the bank an accurate account of what happened, including who made contact first and how the payment was made. A clear account helps the bank decide which route applies.

What if your bank says no?

Complain to the bank first, then take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if the final answer is still no. The complaint is about how the bank handled your claim, not about the gambling site. The service is free.

The ombudsman’s page on how to complain says that “For most complaints, a business has up to 8 weeks to consider a complaint”. For complaints about fraud and scams and about payment services, it gives a shorter period of 15 days. The page does not say whether these are working days, so ask the bank to confirm its deadline in writing. A complaint must reach the ombudsman within six months of the date on the bank’s final response.

What is a recovery scam, and how do you spot one?

A recovery scam targets people who have already lost money. A caller or message offers to get it back, usually for a fee paid in advance. The FCA, which calls them recovery room scams, writes about investors, but the pattern fits gambling losses too.

The FCA says that recovery rooms “insist on being paid a fee or transaction charge before carrying out any services”. They may impersonate the FCA or claim to work with the government, police or another regulator. The warning signs on its page recovery room scams (last updated 19 January 2026) include contact out of the blue (“Always be wary if you’re contacted out of the blue about recovering money you’ve lost”) and a webmail address, since the FCA says it never contacts consumers that way.

In a gambling setting, the caller may claim to be from the Gambling Commission or to work with the police, and offer to release a win or recover a loss for a fee. No commission page read for this guide offers to recover players’ money. A caller who says otherwise deserves caution.

If this has happened, end all contact immediately, as the FCA advises, and pay nothing. The FCA asks people who have lost money to a recovery scam to report it to the FCA and then to Report Fraud. A bank transfer to a so-called recovery firm matches the PSR’s wording for an APP scam, so tell the bank the same day.

Can the Gambling Commission get your money back?

No page on the commission’s website read for this guide offers to recover money for individual players. The commission licenses gambling businesses and acts against illegal operators. Its guidance for players points to the business’s complaints process, and its victim of crime page points to the police. Neither points to a refund from the commission.

What the commission actually checks is narrow. The public register “allows you to see what type of activities gambling businesses can offer”, and whether the commission has taken regulatory action against them, according to the guide on checking that a business is licensed (last updated 18 September 2020). To see where licensed operators are listed, read online casinos licensed by the Gambling Commission.

The commission does want to hear about unlicensed sites. Its confidential reporting service accepts reports of “unlicensed gambling or criminal activity”. The commission says it “cannot provide feedback on any information you provide”, and complaints sent through the service will not be processed (page last updated 8 October 2026). Expect no feedback on the report. What the commission is doing about gambling scams on a larger scale is set out in what the commission is doing about gambling scams.

The order to follow, and free support if the loss weighs on you

  1. Your bank first, on the number on your card or statement, or on 159 after an unexpected call.
  2. Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or Police Scotland on 101.
  3. The Financial Ombudsman Service if the bank rejects the claim; for a licensed business, its complaints process and then an ADR provider; the NCSC and the commission’s reporting service for the website itself.

Losing money to a site can bring pressure to win it back, and that pressure is worth talking about. If gambling is affecting you or someone close to you, the National Gambling Helpline offers free and confidential support on 0808 8020 133. It is run by GamCare and covers Great Britain.

Questions people ask after a gambling scam

Is Action Fraud still the place to report a gambling scam in the UK?

No. Report Fraud replaced Action Fraud on 4 December 2025 for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Report online at reportfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, report to Police Scotland on 101. Check the date of any advice that still names Action Fraud.

How do you report a gambling scam in the UK if you live in Scotland?

Call Police Scotland on 101. Report Fraud and the National Cyber Security Centre both give that number for people who live in Scotland. Call your bank at the same time.

Can you get a chargeback on a payment to a gambling site?

Possibly, but no bank can promise it. A chargeback is a way of disputing a card payment through the card scheme, and the ombudsman refers to time limits without stating them. Ask the bank for the deadline on the first call and give an accurate account of how the payment was made.

Does your bank have to refund money sent by bank transfer to a scammer?

Not in every case. The PSR scheme covers APP scams on transfers made on or after 7 October 2024, with a 13-month claim window, an excess of up to £100 and exclusions for civil disputes and gross negligence. Whether a payment to a gambling site qualifies is the bank’s decision.

Someone has offered to recover your gambling losses for a fee – is it genuine?

An upfront fee is the main warning sign. The FCA says that recovery rooms insist on being paid a fee or transaction charge before doing any work, and that they may claim to act for the government, police or a regulator. End contact, pay nothing and report it to the FCA and then to Report Fraud.

Can the Gambling Commission get your money back from an unlicensed site?

No commission page read for this guide says that the commission recovers money for players. Its guidance for victims of crime points to the police, and its complaints guidance points to the business and then to an ADR provider. It does accept reports about unlicensed sites.

Sources

All pages were read on 9 October 2026. Bracketed dates are those the page shows; pages without one carry none.