Who issued this licence, and where can you check it? Fake casino sites count on players never asking, because a licence seal is only an image and anyone can copy it. The proof sits in the regulator's own records, which must link the operator to the exact domain in your address bar. Check the domain, not the seal.

Why does a seal prove nothing?

Picture a typical case. A player finds a casino through an advert, sees a regulator's seal and a licence number in the footer, and deposits. The first withdrawal is refused, and the chat agent asks for another payment. At no point did the player open the regulator's website, because the footer looked like proof.

The footer is the easiest part of a site to copy. A seal, a licence number, a company name and a live chat window all cost almost nothing to fake. What cannot be copied is the regulator's own record, which names the licence holder and the website addresses it covers.

Genuine sites are expected to point to the register too. Great Britain's Gambling Commission says that licensed businesses must show that they are licensed and link to its public register. The useful test is therefore where a link leads and what the register says once you are there.

Check the register, not the footer.

What did regulators warn about in 2026?

Regulators have published notices about unlicensed sites, copied seals and cloned sites throughout 2026. The table lists the notices; the last row covers two that were not read in full. Website addresses appear only as the regulator named them, with the date of the notice.

DateRegulatorWhat the notice says
7 January 2026Gibraltar's Gambling CommissionerURLs tried to pass as a licensed bookmaker, Boyle Sports
29 January 2026CGA (Curaçao)GEM55 sites, such as gem55.net, are not licensed
12 February 2026CGA (Curaçao)TRUMPBET.CC claims a CGA licence and uses the CGA's logo
20 February 2026CGA (Curaçao)keanubet.com is not licensed and uses the CGA's logo
16 July 2026MGA (Malta)Three sites impersonate MGA-licensed operators
17 July 2026CGA (Curaçao)Two further warning notices (text not checked for this guide)

Curaçao: misused logos and seals

The Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA) published several warnings in early 2026. On 29 January 2026 it named five addresses under the GEM55 label and said the sites were neither authorised nor licensed by it. It asked the public not to use them and not to share personal or financial information. The same notice describes the genuine seal as a green field with a white “CGA” that leads to cert.cga.cw. On 12 February 2026 it said TRUMPBET.CC falsely presented itself as CGA-licensed and used the CGA logo. On 20 February 2026 it said the same of keanubet.com, which also claimed a link to a company it had no right to name.

Two more notices followed on 17 July 2026. Their full text was not checked for this guide, so they are listed here by date only; both are on the CGA's public warnings page. Each notice that was read points the public to the licence register on the CGA website.

Malta: impersonated licensees

On 16 July 2026 the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) warned of websites “impersonating MGA-licensed operators”. It named manekicasino.bet, dragonaracasino.uk.com and slot-hunter.at, and said it has no connection with any of them. Look at how the addresses end: .bet, .uk.com and .at. A clone can differ from the original only in how its address ends or by one extra word.

The MGA also keeps a running list of unauthorised URLs and says that any reference on those domains to an MGA licence is false and misleading. The newest entries seen on 5 October 2026 were dated 23 September 2026. The list changes, so check it on the day you need it.

Gibraltar: a borrowed brand

Gibraltar's Gambling Commissioner (the Gambling Division of HM Government of Gibraltar) says it occasionally learns of websites that suggest they are licensed in Gibraltar when they are unlicensed or licensed elsewhere. On 7 January 2026 it warned about URLs that tried to make the public believe they were using services from Boyle Sports, a Gibraltar licence holder. The Commissioner states that the URLs are not affiliated with that company in any way. The company is named here only as the subject of the warning.

The pattern behind the notices

Three patterns repeat. The first is a misused regulator logo or seal. The second is a borrowed identity, where a site claims a link to a licensed company. The third is an altered domain. All three fail the same check. By the regulators' own statements, none of these sites is connected to the licence it claimed or the company it named.

Seal vs register: how to check, step by step

A site's seal and licence number prove nothing on their own. A site is covered by a licence when the regulator's records connect the operator to the address you are using. The steps below work for any regulator that publishes a register or certificate.

  1. Copy the exact domain from the address bar of your browser.
  2. Find which regulator the site names in its footer or terms.
  3. Open that regulator's website by typing its address yourself or by using a bookmark you saved earlier, not by clicking the seal.
  4. Search the regulator's register or checker for the domain and the licence holder.
  5. If you do click a seal, read the address of the page it opens before trusting it.
  6. Compare the domain, the licence holder and the licence status. If anything differs, do not deposit or send documents.

Each regulator offers its own tool, shown in the table.

RegulatorToolWhat must match
CGA (Curaçao)Certificate at cert.cga.cwThe domain you are on
MGA (Malta)Licensee Register and URL CheckerLicensee name or exact URL
Great Britain's Gambling CommissionPublic registerBusiness name and website
GibraltarLicence holders and approved brands listsBrand and licence holder

The CGA says a seal must redirect to its certificate site, cert.cga.cw. The certificate shows the exact domain, the licensed operator and the licence status. If the domain on the certificate differs from the site you are on, the CGA says the site should be treated as unauthorised or fraudulent, and a seal that differs in design, colour or format means the site is not authorised by it. The CGA adds that its Licence Certificate is not domain-specific and does not authorise player-facing websites.

The MGA lets you search its Licensee Register by licensee name, authorisation status, URL or gaming service. Its separate URL Checker answers the narrower question of whether one address belongs to a licensee. The register page adds that further information can also be viewed through the dynamic seal. Great Britain's Gambling Commission warns that unauthorised businesses are likely to use “false names, addresses and contact numbers”, and it points players to its public register to check a licence. Gibraltar's licence holders list was dated “As at 25th September 2025” when read on 5 October 2026, so treat it as a dated snapshot. Other regulators, including those of the Isle of Man and Ontario, publish their own registers. See the guide to licensed online casinos for how to find the right one.

What the register shows – and what it does not

A register entry shows that a regulator licensed a named operator and which addresses it approved. It does not show that the operator pays winnings promptly. The CGA also says its published PDF registers “do not guarantee the current validity of the licenses”, so use the live certificate for a final check.

An entry also says nothing about whether an operator needs a local licence where you live. Check that separately. A genuine licence from one regulator does not make a site suitable for players everywhere.

Fake casino apps: the same test applies

No regulator warning or official data on fake casino apps was found when this guide was prepared on 5 October 2026, so it gives no figures and no claims about how common they are. The test stays the same. Identify the operator behind the app, then check what the regulator's register says about the operator's website addresses. An app store listing is not a licence check.

If you have already used a fake site

Stop depositing and do not send further documents. In its GEM55 notice, the CGA asks the public not to share personal, financial or other information with the sites it named. Keep the evidence: the web address, screenshots, emails, chat transcripts and the date of each payment.

Be careful with any request for a fee or tax before a withdrawal. Australia's Scamwatch lists being told to pay extra fees, charges or taxes before you can access winnings as a warning sign. The wider list of red flags is in the guide to the warning signs of online casino scams.

Report the site to the regulator whose name it used. The warning pages linked below show which regulator that is. Report the fraud to the police or the national fraud-reporting service where you live, such as Report Fraud in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Police Scotland on 101 in Scotland, the FTC in the United States or Scamwatch in Australia. Contact your own bank or card issuer as soon as you can and ask what options exist. Outcomes depend on the bank and the payment method, and nothing can be promised here.

After a loss, offers of help may arrive from people who say they can recover the money for a fee. Read about gambling recovery scams before replying to any of them.

Where to complain and where to get support

Start with the regulator named by the site, because it can confirm whether the licence is real. The CGA, the MGA and Gibraltar's Gambling Commissioner each publish warnings pages, listed in the sources. The CGA says it does not handle individual complaints from players, so a report to it helps its enforcement but is not a dispute service. Where a site names no regulator, or one that cannot be found, there may be no body to complain to. That is a strong reason to run the check before you deposit.

Losing money to a fake site is not a personal failing. The seal was built to look genuine. If gambling has started to cause harm, Gambling Therapy offers free online support for anyone affected by gambling, wherever they live. It is an online service, not a phone line. This guide gives general information and is not legal advice.

Questions people ask about fake casino sites

How can you spot fake casino sites?

Copy the domain from your address bar and search for it in the register of the regulator the site names, using the regulator's own website. If the domain, the licence holder and the licence status do not match, treat the site as unverified and do not deposit or send documents.

Can a fake casino site show a real licence number?

Yes. A licence number is text that can be copied from a genuine licensee. That is why the number alone proves nothing. The register entry must connect the licence to the exact website address you are on, and a number that leads to a different company or domain does not cover the site.

What is a cloned casino site?

A cloned site copies the name, look or domain of a licensed operator so that visitors believe they are on the real one. The MGA warned about this on 16 July 2026. Clones can differ from the original only in how the address ends or by an added word.

How do you check an MGA licence for a specific website address?

Open the MGA website by typing its address yourself and use the Licensee Register, which can be searched by licensee name, authorisation status, URL or gaming service. The MGA also runs a URL Checker. Compare what it returns with the address you are using.

Who can you report fake casino sites to?

Report a site to the regulator whose name or seal it used. The CGA, the MGA and Gibraltar's Gambling Commissioner each publish warnings pages. The CGA says it does not handle individual player complaints. Report the fraud to the police or the fraud-reporting service where you live, and tell your bank or card issuer if you paid.

Does a listing in a regulator's register mean the site is safe to use where you live?

No. A listing shows that a regulator licensed the operator and which addresses it approved. It does not tell you whether the operator needs a local licence in your country. Check whether operators need a local licence where you live before you play.

What should you do if you have deposited money on a fake casino site?

Stop depositing, send no further documents and keep every email, screenshot and payment record. Report the site to the regulator whose name it used, and the fraud to the police or the fraud-reporting service where you live. Contact your bank or card issuer and ask what options exist, as outcomes depend on the bank and cannot be promised.

Sources

All sources used for this guide to fake casino sites were accessed on 4 or 5 October 2026.