The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) will go after the money, assets and business models behind illegal gambling sites, not just the sites themselves, the regulator said on November 9, 2026. The announcement opened the first Illegal Gambling Awareness Week, a campaign led by the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) from November 9 to 13, in which Ontario’s regulator is also warning players about what can go wrong on unlicensed sites.
The UKGC said it has referred more than £40 million of suspected criminal funds to partner agencies for potential asset freezing since January. It also said more than 3 million URLs have been removed from search results, as site takedowns rise sharply this year.
- Suspected criminal funds referred since January
- £40M+
- for potential asset freezing
- URL referrals to search engines, Q2
- 7.7M
- up from 147,721 in Q1
- Cease and desist notices, 2026/27 so far
- 1,000+
- Websites referred for disruption
- 2,200+
What changes
The UKGC said it has started to widen its work beyond disrupting websites. It briefed UK industry leaders at its CEO Briefing the week before and international regulators at the IAGR conference in October.
If you run an illegal gambling operation, we are coming after you, your business and your money.
Sue Young, Executive Director of Operations, UK Gambling Commission
Young said that means “disrupting their payments, hindering their advertising and stopping them from obtaining the games and sportsbooks they so heavily rely on.” The UKGC also said it continues to work with law enforcement to seize cash at illegal land-based gambling operations.
The website work is still growing. URL referrals to search engines rose from 147,721 in the first quarter to 7.7 million in the second, an increase of more than 5,000%, according to the UKGC.
What it means for players
The UKGC’s own survey data, released on November 5, found that 4% of people who gambled online in the past year had used illegal gambling websites. Ontario’s regulator gave an example of what can go wrong.
In a November 6 article, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) described a player who won a C$21,000 jackpot at an online casino. The player had already sent bank statements, passed the casino’s verification checks and been told the account was verified. When they tried to withdraw, the casino asked for another round of documents, which the player said their bank couldn’t provide.
“They are asking for something nobody can get,” the player wrote in a complaint to the AGCO. But the AGCO could not step in: the casino was not regulated in Ontario.
Licensed operators in Ontario must meet rules on fair play, withdrawals, responsible gambling and complaint handling, with consequences when they fail to. The AGCO said unregulated sites can also expose players’ personal and financial information, run misleading promotions, offer unfair games and fall short on age verification.
How to check a site
As part of the awareness week, IAGR launched CheckBeforeYouPlay.org, where players enter a site’s address to see whether it is licensed where they live. A site can be licensed in one country or province and not in another, IAGR said.
“Unlicensed is unprotected,” said Kevin Mullally, CEO of IAGR. Its campaign warns that a polished website, familiar branding or a sponsorship deal does not mean an operator is licensed where a player lives.
Players in Britain can also check the UKGC’s public register of licensed businesses.
What happens next
The UKGC said it will keep working with law enforcement, the gambling industry, technology companies and the financial sector, with more intelligence sharing and early reporting.
