UK Gambling Commission targets illegal operators' profits and business models
The regulator has referred over £40 million in suspected criminal funds for potential asset freezing since January.
LONDON · The UK Gambling Commission has warned illegal gambling operators it is coming after their businesses and money as part of a new enforcement strategy. The regulator announced the shift to mark the start of Illegal Gambling Awareness Week, which runs from November 9 to 13, 2026. It said it will increasingly "follow the money" to disrupt illegal operators across their entire operations. Sue Young, the Commission's Executive Director of Operations, delivered a stark message to unlicensed platforms.
"If you run an illegal gambling operation, we are coming after you, your business and your money," Young said. "We've already shown we can take down and disrupt individual websites and now we're going further." She said the new approach means interfering with illegal operators' whole business models, disrupting their payments, hindering their advertising and stopping them from obtaining games and sportsbooks. Since January, the Commission has referred over £40 million of suspected criminal funds to partner agencies for potential asset freezing. The regulator is also continuing to work with law enforcement 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," Young added. The Commission briefed UK industry leaders at a CEO Briefing event in London last week and international partners at the International Association of Gaming Regulators Conference last month.
In the 2026/27 period to date, the Commission has issued more than 1,000 cease and desist notices to illegal operators. It has referred 7.8 million URLs to search engines, leading to the removal of more than three million URLs from search results. The regulator has also referred more than 2,200 websites for disruption action. URL referrals rose from 147,721 in the first quarter to 7.7 million in the second quarter, an increase of more than 5,000 percent.
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The wider approach is designed to better protect consumers, support licensed operators and tackle criminality linked to illegal gambling. The Commission said it supports Illegal Gambling Awareness Week as an opportunity to highlight the risks illegal gambling presents. It will continue to work with law enforcement agencies, the gambling industry, technology companies and the financial sector to identify and disrupt illegal gambling activity. These efforts include increased collaboration on intelligence sharing, early reporting, data and evidence support, strategic engagement and consumer protection.
The awareness week follows the publication last week of new findings from the Gambling Survey for Great Britain and an updated illegal gambling dashboard. The Commission said these provide further evidence to support enforcement activity. The regulator's announcement comes after industry groups like the Betting and Gaming Council and the British Horseracing Authority have repeatedly highlighted the prevalence of black market platforms. The BGC has claimed that bets on illegal operators' platforms will exceed £1 billion for the 2027/28 Premier League season.
Isabelle Moreau is the editor of Novello Desserts and writes about family life and everyday living in Canada. The editor signs off on corrections and editorial standards.