DGA Working Overtime to Block Illegal Gambling Sites
Published March 14, 2022 by Brett C
The Danish Gambling Authority (DGA) released its 2021 annual report detailing its activities vis-a-vis illegal online gambling activity. Based on the report, the DGA blocked a record number of illegal websites offering gambling services in 2021. Plus, regulated gambling activity has seen its highest levels yet.
The DGA has been scouring the Internet for illegal online gambling sites in Danish cyberspace. The authority published its 2021 annual report on illegal gambling activity. Spillemyndigheden blocked a total of 55 domains involved in illicit gambling services.
These sites availed their services to players in Denmark. As a result, the total number of domains blocked in 2021 was more than triple the number blocked in 2020 (16). Since 2012, the DGA has blocked 145 sites offering illegal gambling to Danish players.
The DGA is using a new methodology for assessing skin betting websites. The number of operators providing online gambling services to players in Denmark without a licence is a good indicator of the volume of skin betting in the gaming market in Denmark. Skin betting refers to gambling activity using virtual elements from video games for online gambling sites.
DGA works with DTA to Uncover Illegal Online Gambling Activity
In tandem with a special anti-fraud unit of the Danish Tax Agency, the DGA conducted a total of six searches on illicit online gambling websites found to have breached the rules and regulations as stipulated by the City Court. As a result, 2709 online gambling platforms were discovered, up substantially from 1565 during 2020.
Investigative requests to uncover illegal gambling activity rose sharply in 2021, with 210 requests versus 160 in 2020 and 42 investigations in 2019. As a result, Denmark's channelling rate in 2021 was 90%, according to H2 Gambling Capital. This figure was 2% higher than 2020 and 2019.
Only a handful of countries have higher channelling rates in European markets, including the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, and Italy. The DGA announced that the 10% remaining in the Danish gambling market includes the legal market and online casino players and bettors who gamble with offshore websites not aimed at Danish players.
According to Spillemyndigheden, 'An increase in the number of websites identified, requests and internet blockings may indicate that the illegal market is expanding… However, the Danish Gambling Authority maintains our assessment that the illegal gambling market in Denmark is limited and the increase expresses the Authority's increased focus on illegal gambling.'
Updated Certification System for Gambling Activity
In February 2022, Spillemyndigheden provided an up-to-date certification system for bricks and mortar betting licensing, online casino gambling, and sports betting to the European Commission (EC). The updated certification system is known as version 2.0. Previously, the Danish certification system was revised in 2015, then 2018, and again in 2020.
The framework details the operator's terms and conditions for licences to be issued. The updated rules list the player protections, testing, and data conditions in Denmark. On January 25, 2022, the DGA officially submitted the new framework document for approval. There is a standstill period through April 26, 2022, with the EC.
