The Dutch gambling regulator has worked with domain operator CO.NL to take down 26 websites that imitated licensed operators and directed visitors to illegal gambling services.
Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) said the sites used familiar Dutch gambling domain names with .co.nl substituted for .nl. Nearly all of the 26 copied websites belonged to licence holders.
According to the regulator, visitors who landed on the imitation pages were redirected to unlicensed gambling sites, creating a risk that consumers would mistake them for legitimate providers.
CO.NL, the independent operator of the .co.nl domain, removed the sites within 48 hours of being notified by KSA.
The investigation also uncovered other sites associated with .co.nl that offered or promoted illegal gambling. KSA said it has now reported 86 websites to CO.NL in total and that all were removed.
The removals follow parliamentary support for proposals to strengthen action against illegal gambling advertising and the digital infrastructure behind unlicensed sites.
The regulator has also issued guidance intended to make it easier for customers to close accounts with licensed operators.
Other recent KSA work has focused on player protection. The regulator said it would act after an investigation found that a person registered with the Cruks exclusion system entered some venues using other people’s identification.
Separate studies commissioned by KSA examined gambling exposure among minors and young adults.
CO.NL operates the .co.nl domain independently of the Dutch gambling regulator
