The Dutch Gambling Authority, Kansspelautoriteit, has commenced an investigation into affiliate sites that are promoting the offer of illegal games and focusing on “extra vulnerable people”.
The country’s regulator said that it came across these sites when tracing illegal gambling offers, with these in question aiming to bypass law and direct consumers to illegal sites.
Furthermore, the Ksa noted that those affiliates in question use domain names such as ‘casinowithoutcruks’ and ‘casinowithoutlicense,’ adding that “they get paid when they provide web traffic to illegal gambling websites”.
Alongside this move, the regulator also noted the importance of the country’s Centraal Register Uitsluiting Kansspelen (Cruks), the country’s national self-exclusion scheme.
From October 1, 2021, when the Netherlands’ re-regulated ecosystem debuted, a legal requirement was imposed for all online gambling operators to centralise their player databases with the CRUKS system.
This is a register that legal providers of games of chance must consult before admitting a player, with the KSA noting that registered players are excluded from participation “due to addiction problems”.
This latest action by the regulator comes after 15 affiliates were targeted by the Ksa in December 2021 for promoting illegal online games of chance after 22 investigations were conducted.
“The Ksa thinks it’s extra bad that these affiliates focus on problem players. In addition to offering games of chance without a licence, promoting illegal offerings is also prohibited,” it was added.
Earlier this month, the Dutch regulator issued an instruction to a pair of online gaming providers, as well as a reminder to the industry, after violations of the country’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (WwFt) were unearthed.
This followed a market-wide preliminary study into compliance obligations that was conducted earlier in the year, following which it was discovered that the two unnamed licence holders did not sufficiently control the gaming behaviour of the players.
