Unlicensed Sites Targeting Self-Excluded UK Gamblers
Nearly three in ten UK bettors can’t tell when a site is illegal. That blind spot is turning into a lucrative market for unscrupulous offshore operators who are targeting self-excluded players and minors, according to new research from Yield Sec.
Yield Sec’s latest Campaign for Fairer Gambling report frames this as an arms race. The UKGC licence remains the gold standard for consumer protection, especially for minors and for people who have chosen to self-exclude. Yet offshore brands keep adding new tools to reach UK players. They include anonymous crypto casino sign-ups, aggressive SEO, and social campaigns that the UK Advertising Standards committee and UK Gambling Commission can’t fight.
How Offshore Operators Target Vulnerable Gamblers
At the centre of it all sits the “Not on GAMSTOP” pitch. Yield Sec finds the phrase in 84% of unlicensed casino promotions. For context, GAMSTOP is the UK’s free self-exclusion scheme with more than 530,000 registered users. Sign up and you lock yourself out of all UKGC-licensed sites for 6 months, 1 year, or 5 years. It is there to protect people, but now offshore operators have learned to treat it as a keyword.
Yield Sec estimates the illegal channel has grown to 9% of UK online gross yearly revenue—about $480m (£379m) in the first half of 2025 alone. That share has doubled year on year since 2022, driven largely by self-excluded players and under-18s slipping into the grey market.
UK Gamblers Choosing Unlicensed Casinos
Behaviourally, the funnel is already primed. 14% of regular UK gamblers say they are using illegal sites today. 28% say they would switch if it meant better odds or lower taxes. The softest target is the 29% who cannot recognise an unlicensed site at all. For them, the offshore ad is just another casino ad.
Which is why “Not on GAMSTOP” functions less like a warning and more like a recruitment drive. These sites do not need to talk anyone into crossing a line. They just need to be there when someone searches for a way to play. Affiliates know it, too—they are battling for the “Not on GAMSTOP” keywords and pumping the same message across social feeds.
With no licensing body to answer to, many of these sites engage in dubious practices that put vulnerable gamblers at further risk. That can range from aggressive marketing right through to rigged games.
The report calls for Google and social media companies to take a stance and limit the reach of these offshore sites targeting vulnerable gamblers, but this is an ongoing war and one of many tactics that the offshore market is using to attract new players from regulated markets.
