A new report investigating MyStake has been published by GAMRS, in collaboration with Deal Me Out, outlining alleged black market activity.
MyStake is an offshore online casino brand operated by Santeda International BV and Ryker BV, with sister brands including Donbet, Goldenbet, Velobet, Cosmobet and Rolletto.
According to the reports, MyStake generates over £1.2bn in annual turnover, while the wider Santeda-linked network generates approximately £3.5bn per year.
After interviewing UK players, GAMRS found that the individuals lost £241,152 to MyStake alone.
Allegedly, one customer lost £45,000 in three days, and another lost £21,400 in one evening; customers also reported taking out loans and gambling with credit cards.
"This surge in gambling harms ultimately costs the UK NHS with no associated tax revenues to offset those costs," the report argued.
Around 64% of this activity likely comes from UK customers, which would represent up to £2.2bn in missed revenue.
While the companies involved had "taken significant effort to willfully obfuscate their corporate structure and geographical locations", they were registered and licensed in Curaçao with potential for operating from within Georgia.
Rather than ceasing operations when targeted by regulators, GAMRS argued that Santeda employed a "Hydra" model to simply relaunch new sites rather than stopping online casino activity.
GAMRS commented on the "critical role of suppliers and intermediaries in enabling illegal gambling to persist at scale", including platform, aggregation, payment, affiliate and networking providers.
"The report calls for a whole-system response, including cross-border intelligence cooperation and significantly increased scrutiny of the global gambling supply chain," the report continued. "The findings are directly relevant to the UK Gambling Commission's statutory objectives to keep gambling free from crime and protect vulnerable consumers, as well as to broader AML, sanctions, and proceeds-of-crime considerations linked to offshore gambling revenues."
The full report and evidence can be found through either GAMRS or Deal Me Out.
Players confirmed that after self-excluding from one Santeda brand, others would begin directly marketing to them with offers and bonuses
