UK bettors who suspect criminal activity within the regulated gambling sector have been offered a new portal to inform the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
The regulator has launched a new section on its website, ‘Tell us something in confidence‘, which allows betting customers to report possible illegal activities such as money laundering and underage gambling breaches.
Upholding AML standards is a key licensing requirement for operators with regards to the monitoring of the payments process, and failures in this area have led to several high-profile enforcement actions by the UKGC.
Other illegal activities customers can inform the regulator about are possible match fixing occurrences and cases of unlicensed gambling, among other areas. Users can also leave details if they wish to receive further contact from the regulator.
A UKGC statement explained: “The new service provides a one-stop service allowing users to anonymously upload supporting information connected to their report, such as photographs and documents. Users can also send further information by email or post.”
Users have also been reminded, however, that the purpose of the new portal is not for customer complaints but specifically to report suspicions of crime. For the former, the UKGC has a dedicated customer complaints page.
The launch of the ‘tell us something in confidence’ portal comes amid a period of significant change for the UK gambling sector. Gambling Act review recommendations for regulatory change are currently the subject of consultations between industry stakeholders and the UKGC and DCMS.
The latest round of consultations were launched by the UKGC last week, examining areas such as ‘transparency of protection of customer funds’ whilst the previous round focused on finance risk checks, among other areas.
