How can you tell whether an online casino is allowed to offer its games to people in Great Britain? Check the Gambling Commission’s public register. A business offering gambling to people in Great Britain needs a Gambling Commission licence, wherever it is based, and one without it is “acting illegally”, the commission says. An unlicensed casino in the UK is one that does so without that licence. This guide gives general information and is not legal advice.

What makes a casino unlicensed in Great Britain

The test is where the player is, not where the company is based. Section 33 of the Gambling Act 2005 makes it an offence to provide facilities for gambling unless the act allows it, and the penalties run to 51 weeks in prison (six months in Scotland), a fine up to level 5 on the standard scale, or both. The section is written about the person who provides the gambling, so those penalties are aimed at providers.

Since 1 November 2014 the same requirement has covered remote gambling when no equipment is in Great Britain but the facilities are used there, provided the operator knows or should know that people in Great Britain are using them (section 36). In plain terms, the licence follows the player, not the company’s address.

The commission puts it bluntly: “Any gambling business operating without a Gambling Commission licence is acting illegally”, and the business’s payment facilities “may be withdrawn by major payment systems organisations”. That page was last updated on 23 August 2021. It describes the business, not the customer.

Two limits apply to this guide. The commission’s jurisdiction covers England, Scotland and Wales, and gambling in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter, so everything here describes Great Britain. What the act says about a player’s own position is a separate question, covered in how the Gambling Act 2005 and the commission’s rules work. For the other side of the line, see online casinos licensed by the Gambling Commission.

What the commission actually checks

Licensed gambling businesses must display that they are licensed and give a link to the public register, according to the commission’s guidance for players. The register shows what type of activities a business can offer and any regulatory action against it. The commission’s advice on what to look at before you gamble also says to check that the licence details, “including activities and website domain names”, match the register.

A licence number or logo in a footer can be copied. The register, not the footer, is the source to trust. Look the business up, then check that the activities and the website address match the site in front of you. A step-by-step guide to checking a licence on the public register covers the lookup in detail.

The commission’s work against sites without a licence runs through the services around them. In a speech at ICE Barcelona on 19 January 2026, Tim Miller of the commission gave figures for April to December 2025, including “Issued 592 Cease and Desists to advertisers and operators” (the speech).

The commission’s October 2025 blog names the other levers: the search engines (Google, Bing and Yahoo, together around 97% of the market in Great Britain), banking details gathered through test purchasing, which can be referred to Visa and Mastercard, and social media platforms such as Meta, TikTok, X and YouTube. How the commission is taking down illegal gambling sites goes through these figures. None of it produces a list for players.

Where the commission’s reach stops

The commission’s guidance for players points to the register of licensed businesses, not to a list of illegal sites. The register can confirm a licence, but it cannot warn you about a site that is not on it. A Freedom of Information request dated 10 October 2024 for lists of the notices sent to illegal operators was met with the response “Information withheld”, on cost grounds.

Suspending domain names is not yet an option either. Schedule 18 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 is headed “Suspension of internet protocol addresses and internet domain names”, and it names enforcement officers appointed by the commission among the “appropriate officers” in England and Wales. On 9 October 2026 the legislation.gov.uk page still marked the provisions as “prospective” and “not in force at Royal Assent”. Parliament has approved the powers, but the page shows no start date.

Why some sites advertise that they are not on Gamstop

Gamstop is the national online self-exclusion service. Anyone living in the United Kingdom can register, and registration blocks access to online gambling businesses licensed in Great Britain for the exclusion period chosen.

For those licensed businesses, taking part is not optional. When the commission suspended two operators’ licences in April 2020, it said that participating in Gamstop “by 31 March was a requirement of their licence conditions and social responsibility code provision 3.5.5” (the announcement). A site that boasts about being outside Gamstop is, on that evidence, likely to hold no Gambling Commission licence either. That is a statement about a type of site, not about any single site. A casino that advertises the fact is also telling you who it wants as customers.

The commission says the same. Miller told ICE Barcelona that “a major part of the audience for illegal gambling websites and apps are people who are already self-excluded”, and that among social media adverts, “many of these aimed at GB users are for the so called ‘not on GamStop’ sites”.

Research the commission published on 18 September 2025 adds the player’s side. For some people, a key driver is the wish “to circumvent protection measures such as self-exclusion”. Others “stumble upon these websites completely by chance”, and one participant said, “I didn’t realise these sites might be unlicensed.”

Someone who registered with Gamstop and later saw such an advert is not at fault for seeing it. What a casino outside Gamstop means for you looks at the risks in detail, and the tools that sit on the licensed side are covered in Gamstop, gambling blocks and free support. Free and confidential support is listed in the section on where to report and where to get help.

What you lose without a licence

The main thing you lose without a licence is a route for complaints.

For a licensed business the route is set out. The commission’s guidance says the gambling business has eight weeks to resolve your complaint from when it receives it. After that you can take the complaint to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provider, which the commission describes as “a free, independent service”. The order matters. You cannot go to an ADR provider without first going through the business’s own complaints process. How the complaints process and ADR work covers the steps.

For a site with no licence the guidance describes no equivalent route. The commission’s own wording for the risk is that consumers face “increased risks from unfair gaming practices, financial loss, and a lack of recourse if things go wrong”. A licence changes that: the commission says that with one, “you will be protected by consumer and gambling protection rules in Great Britain”. Nothing in the guidance promises that money can be recovered from a site without a licence.

The rules below apply to licensed businesses, so none of them can be assumed at a site without a licence:

  • Gamstop: licensed online businesses have had to take part since 31 March 2020.
  • Age and identity checks: required before you gamble since 7 May 2019.
  • Credit cards: gambling with a credit card has been banned since 14 April 2020.
  • Stake limits on online slots: £5 per game cycle from 9 April 2025, and £2 for 18 to 24-year-olds from 21 May 2025.
  • Financial limits: businesses must prompt customers to set a limit before their first deposit, since 31 October 2025.
  • A cap on wagering requirements of 10 times, in force since 19 January 2026.

A licence does not prevent every problem. It does mean a complaint has somewhere to go.

Scams that follow unlicensed sites

Two problems get mixed up. A site without a licence operates without the permission the act requires, and that is a matter for the commission. A scam is a fraud, and that is a matter for your bank and the police. One website can be both. The routes differ.

In 2021 the commission warned: “Unauthorised gambling businesses are likely to use false names, addresses and contact numbers.” Contact details on a page prove little for that reason. The register is the place to check.

People who have already lost money can be targeted a second time. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warns about ‘recovery room’ scams in general, where fraudsters approach people who have already lost money and ask for “a fee or transaction charge before carrying out any services”. The FCA page covers investments, not gambling, so the warning is a pattern to recognise, not a claim about gambling sites.

A scam, or personal information handed to a fraudster, should be reported to Report Fraud. It replaced Action Fraud on Thursday 4 December 2025 and covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. You can call the service on 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, contact Police Scotland on 101.

Contact your bank as well and ask whether a payment to the site can be disputed through the card scheme. The bank decides, and nothing here promises the outcome. Where to report a gambling scam and what to ask your bank goes through it step by step.

Where to report and where to get help

Reporting a site is different from complaining about it. Put the evidence first, because a complaint without dates is hard to follow up.

  1. Keep every email, screenshot and payment receipt, and note the date on each.
  2. Contact your bank about payments to the site and ask whether they can be disputed.
  3. If money or personal information went to a scam, report it to Report Fraud, or to Police Scotland on 101 if you live in Scotland.
  4. Report the site itself to the commission. Its contact page lists “Unlicensed gambling or criminality activity” among the things to report, under a ‘Report online or call us’ option. The service is for reports. It is not a complaints channel.
  5. Treat any offer to recover your money for an upfront fee with suspicion.

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. GamCare says the helpline “provides free support for anyone affected by gambling harms in Great Britain”, with live chat and WhatsApp as well as the phone line. Safer gambling and where to get help has more on the tools and services available.

Questions about unlicensed casinos in the UK

What is an unlicensed casino?

An unlicensed casino is a site that offers gambling to people in Great Britain without a Gambling Commission licence. The commission says any gambling business operating without one is “acting illegally”. A business missing from the public register of licensed businesses is a reason to stop before depositing.

Where can you see whether a casino holds a Gambling Commission licence?

On the commission’s public register, which shows which activities each business can offer. Check that the activities and the website address match the site in front of you.

Why do some casinos say they are not on Gamstop?

Taking part in Gamstop has been a licence condition for online businesses licensed in Great Britain since 31 March 2020, so a site outside it is in all likelihood unlicensed too. The commission says a major part of the audience for illegal gambling sites is people who are already self-excluded.

Can you take a complaint about an unlicensed casino to an ADR provider?

Not by the route the commission describes. An ADR provider comes in only after a complaint has gone through the business’s own complaints process. For a site with no licence the commission’s guidance describes no such route, which fits its warning of “a lack of recourse if things go wrong”.

Does the Gambling Commission publish a list of illegal gambling sites?

Not in its guidance for players. That guidance points to the public register of licensed businesses, which can confirm a licence but cannot warn you about a site it does not list.

How do you report an unlicensed gambling site?

Use the commission’s contact page, which lists unlicensed gambling among the things to report and offers a ‘Report online or call us’ option. A report is not a complaint, and the service does not handle individual complaints. Money lost to a scam should be raised with your bank and reported to Report Fraud.

Is a licence number in a casino’s footer enough?

No. A number or logo in a footer can be copied, so the register is the source to trust. Look the business up there and check that the activities and the website address match.

Can the Gambling Commission block illegal gambling websites?

Its tools today include cease and desist letters, delisting requests to search engines and work with payment providers. Parliament has approved powers to suspend domain names, but legislation.gov.uk still marked the provisions as not in force on 9 October 2026.

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