Gambling Commission Targets £40 Million in Illegal Gambling Crackdown

The UK Gambling Commission is stepping up its crackdown on illegal gambling. It revealed that it has referred more than £40 million in suspected criminal funds to partner agencies for potential asset freezing since just January.

The regulator announced on Monday, 9 November, that it would expand its enforcement efforts beyond removing illegal gambling websites. It now intends to target the money, advertising, and businesses supporting unlicensed operators.

The announcement perfectly coincides with the first Illegal Gambling Awareness Week, running from 9 to 13 November. A timely reminder for operators on the wrong side of UK law.

Gambling Commission Promises to Target Illegal Operators' Finances

In its latest announcement, the Commission outlined plans to disrupt entire illegal gambling business models, rather than focusing primarily on individual websites.

This includes targeting payment providers, advertising networks, and access to casino games and sportsbooks.

Sue Young, the Commission's Executive Director of Operations, warned:

"If you run an illegal gambling operation, we are coming after you, your business and your money."

Young explained that the regulator had already demonstrated its ability to remove and disrupt illegal websites, but now intended to go further.

The new approach will involve working with financial institutions and law enforcement agencies to interfere with illegal operators' payment systems and assets.

Since January, the Commission has referred more than £40 million in suspected criminal funds. It has also continued working with police to seize cash from illegal land-based gambling operations.

More Than Three Million Illegal Gambling URLs Removed

The Commission also published figures demonstrating the scale of its enforcement activities during the 2026/27 financial year.

So far, these include:

• More than 1,000 cease-and-desist notices issued to illegal operators.
• 7.8 million URLs referred to search engines.
• More than three million URLs removed from search results.
• Over 2,200 websites referred for disruption action.

The number of URLs referred to search engines increased dramatically. Referrals rose from 147,721 between April and June to approximately 7.7 million between July and September, an increase of more than 5,000%.

Illegal Gambling Remains a Concern in the UK

Despite huge strides being made, illegal gambling remains a concern in the UK. The Commission published new research on 5 November, examining the scale of Britain's illegal gambling market.

The regulator identified 586 illegal gambling websites accessible to British consumers in September 2026. This represents an increase of approximately 4% than a year earlier.

Its research also estimated that 2.5% of people who had gambled online in the previous 12 months had used an illegal gambling website within the past four weeks.

While these stats aren’t necessarily encouraging, the Commission also found that 77% of websites subject to disruption action experienced a subsequent reduction in estimated traffic.

First Illegal Gambling Awareness Week Begins

The Commission's announcement coincides with the inaugural Illegal Gambling Awareness Week. The international campaign is organised by the International Association of Gaming Regulators.

The initiative aims to raise awareness of illegal gambling risks amongst consumers. It also wants to encourage cooperation between regulators, law enforcement agencies, and the gambling industry.

The UK government has already committed £26 million over three years to strengthen the Gambling Commission's work against the illegal market. With that additional funding and an increased focus on financial disruption, the regulator hopes to make it more difficult for unlicensed operators to serve British customers.

The latest announcement certainly signals a change in enforcement priorities, hopefully for the better. Rather than just removing illegal gambling websites, the Commission now intends to ‘hit them where it hurts’ and target the financial and commercial networks that allow them to operate.