Danish Gambling Authority release annual report on illegal gambling

In its 2018 Annual Illegal Gambling Report published this week, the Danish Gambling Authority (DGA) Spillemyndigheden claimed success in the fight against illegal gambling offers through websites but acknowledged challenges in tackling offers directed through social media platforms such as Facebook and the promotion of unlicensed operators by marketing affiliates, most commonly in “Top Ten Best Online Casino” rankings.

In-depth analysis of the Facebook platform led the authority to consider the increase of illegal gambling, primarily lottery-type games, as problematic leading it to initiate cooperation with Facebook that has seen the closure of four Facebook Groups in 2018.

Illegal skin betting is also posing a problem with almost all instances utilising the Steam Platform to login. Using its own web-crawler search engine to identify skin betting websites, the DGA said its next illegal gambling web blocking session will include 20-25 skin betting sites.

Issues identified for further research include the blurred lines between video gaming and gambling, the DGA said, with a focus on loot boxes and the option to use the contents of these as stakes in gambling activities among other things.

Denmark will join 17 other European countries who have signed a declaration on the further examination of “the blurred lines that appear when elements such as loot boxes or skin betting from gambling are incorporated in video gaming”, often played by persons younger than 18-years-of-age.

Heading into 2019, the DGA said it will continue to cooperate with the Danish Tax Agency’s anti-fraud unit to improve web searches for illegal operators while simultaneously developing its own systems to examine more unusual types of illegal gambling.

“In the beginning of 2019, the Danish Gambling Authority expects to take the necessary measures to block more sites where the owners do not comply with the rules after receiving a petition from the Danish Gambling Authority,” a press statement reads.

“In accordance with the political agreement, the Danish Gambling Authority will allocate resources for skin betting and loot boxes in 2019.”