ACMA orders blocking of another nine gambling sites

Following a series of investigations, ACMA found Winning Days, 21Bit Casino, Oshi Casino, Lucky Elf Casino, NeoSpin, Lets Lucky, Boho Casino, Ripper Casino and BC.Game were all operating in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.

The latest round of requests meant that 642 illegal gambling and affiliate websites have now been blocked since ACMA made its first blocking request in November 2019.

More than 180 illegal services have also pulled out of the Australian market since ACMA began enforcing new illegal offshore gambling rules in 2017.

“The ACMA is reminding consumers that even if a service looks legitimate, it’s unlikely to have important customer protections; this means Australians who use illegal gambling services risk losing their money,” ACMA said.

Earlier this month, ACMA said that it intends to focus on “affiliate services that promote and drive traffic to illegal online casinos” this year.

ACMA explained its actions for the July-September period, declaring affiliate services that drive traffic to illegal and offshore offerings while often posing as independent reviewers of gambling sites are its compliance priority.

Subsequently, the authority investigated 20 affiliate services during the period to “disrupt the marketing and supply” of unlawful offerings in Australia. These investigations found a high number of affiliate services to be in breach of the ban on advertising illegal gambling services and aiding the act of providing illegal gambling.