Hundreds of “gambling-ready” crypto casino accounts are being openly sold on Facebook and other mainstream social media sites, Sky News can reveal.
Online casinos that use cryptocurrency are known as crypto casinos and are not regulated in the UK.
They became popular thanks to gambling influencers, including celebrities such as rapper Drake.
Sky News has found that it is simple to bypass the barriers designed to stop British citizens from gambling on these high-risk sites. The accounts come fully configured and the buyer can simply log in and start playing without the need to add personal details and fill out forms.
MP Carolyn Harris, who leads a parliamentary group examining gambling-related harms, said the findings were “startling”.
Over the past three months, Sky News has analyzed hundreds of adverts across different social media sites, as well as speaking to sellers and buyers.
The ads appeared primarily on Facebook and Discord, a message board popular among gamers, but were also posted on TikTok, Telegram, Reddit and X (formerly Twitter).
Analysis of these ads showed that the accounts of one of the largest cryptocurrency casinos, Stake.com, were the most advertised, for sale and requested by buyers.
Since the beginning of October, ads for more than 200 Stake.com accounts have been posted on Facebook, while at least 100 have been promoted on Discord.
There is no evidence that Stake.com or any of the crypto casinos knew about these advertisements or endorsed them. Their brand is used on social media without permission, such as on a group with 18.000 members.
After being contacted by Sky News, Stake.com said they are aware of fraudulent attempts to access their crypto casino and that their attempts to block behavior like this are “continuously evolving”.
Some groups run sophisticated operations, with sales teams and others offering a “middleman” who, for a small fee, holds the buyer's money until both parties are satisfied.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Crypto casinos are blocked in the UK, meaning a user receives an error message when trying to access one of these websites, but a previous Sky News investigation showed how British gamblers are encouraged to dodge these blocks using free and widely known software.
But some sites also require the user to provide photo ID when creating an account. This is to help the casino verify whether the player is located in a country where they can legally operate.
The accounts that Sky News finds for sale are "pre-built", with this verification phase already completed.
This means that gamblers can easily bypass these identification requirements, sometimes paying less than 10 euros for an account.
Premium accounts worth thousands of dollars are also on sale. These more expensive accounts tend to have cashback features or active financial bonuses.
Verified Stake.com accounts are also available for free via the Telegram messaging app and work with a fake address.
The people selling the accounts are not affiliated with any of the casinos and some appear to be gamblers themselves. Many advertisements mentioned that the reason the seller was getting rid of the account was because he had bet all his money.
Carolyn Harris and her fellow MPs from the gambling-related All-Party Parliamentary Group have been campaigning to bring what she calls “analogue” gambling laws up to date for a modern, digital age.
“I wish it was something I didn't see coming, but knowing what I know about this environment I think it was only a matter of time before we saw these things happen,” he said.
“But the investigation has been absolutely brilliant and the fact that it is happening is astonishing.”
Social media companies have a role to play in preventing ads like this from appearing on their platforms, Harris told Sky News, but added that blame also falls on crypto casinos.
He believes the gambling industry doesn't do enough: “There's no moral compass there… They don't believe they should take responsibility.”
Richard Williams, gambling specialist at Keystone Law, told Sky News that trading on these accounts is a gray area, but there could be fraud issues at play.
He warns that this is increasingly becoming a problem, pointing out that “you are seeing more and more cases of Britons gambling with offshore operators, particularly crypto casino gambling operators”.
It is not possible to prove whether all advertisements are genuine or just a scam by criminals targeting those with disordered gambling habits.
WHAT DO COMPANIES SAY?
TikTok, Reddit, Discord and Meta, owners of Facebook, removed the accounts after being contacted by Sky News.
The social media companies said that user safety is a top priority and that their community guidelines do not allow the promotion of gambling services or businesses that facilitate illegal gambling. A spokesperson for Meta who said: “We do not allow scam ads and have removed ads they pointed out to us as violating our policies.”
Telegram and X, formerly known as Twitter, did not respond.
A spokesperson for Stake told Sky News: Stake is aware of attempts to circumvent our controls through a variety of means. Stake has the strictest controls in the industry, meaning anyone trying to fraudulently access Stake must come up with new methods to do so.
Our approach to combating fraudulent attempts to access Stake, working alongside regulators and law enforcement, is continually evolving to stay ahead of bad actors.
Stake.com is not available in the UK, but is licensed and regulated in other jurisdictions. Stake invests significantly in the identification and prevention of gambling problems.”
