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The Loterij suggested around 200,000 Dutch citizens already engage with unauthorised platforms.
Earlier this summer, the Dutch Online Gaming Providers (VNLOK) trade body initiated legal action against Meta and lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission, accusing the social media giant of failing to prevent the widespread display of illegal online gambling advertisements targeting Dutch users on Facebook and Instagram.
According to VNLOK, the illegal online gambling market in the Netherlands now matches the size of the regulated sector, with estimated annual revenues in excess of €1 billion ($1.1 billion).
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The regulator identified six key categories of fraud frequently encountered in online gambling. These included identity fraud, payment fraud and abusive chargebacks. It also covered in-game cheating, money-dumping and sporting event manipulation
For each category, the guide explained pertinent legal provisions and recommended operational actions.
In cases of identity fraud, operators were advised to close accounts upon establishing fraud and to reserve balances when bank account ownership cannot be confirmed.
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While the intention is to protect vulnerable households and ensure welfare is spent on essential needs, proposed measures are being complicated by legal, technical and privacy obstacles.
Harris Tsangarides, executive director of the Gaming & Casino Supervision Commission, said his department had noticed spikes in gambling activity coinciding with GMI payment dates, prompting the regulator to consider “technical solution” to cross-reference GMI beneficiary lists with casino membership records.
An issue raised by Giannis Vasiliadis, director of WBAS, was the limited access to recipients’ banking information. This limited data can hint at suspicious activity but cannot conclusively verify gambling transactions.