More illegal offshore gambling sites blocked by ACMA

Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has requested Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ban 12 illegal offshore gambling websites from operating, for violating the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.

The ACMA is directly responsible for the regulation of broadcasting committee communications and telecommunications in Australia. The recent move is only the latest in a series of blocking orders issued by the regulator against unlicensed casino companies.

In a release, the ACMA leveraged its powers to request that 12 sites be blocked by ISPs as they were in violation of the country’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001. The published list of newly blocked sites includes the following:

• Tsars
• 1RED
• Rabona
• Zoome Casino
• Cleopatra Casino
• Zen Casino
• Zen Betting
• 5Gringos
• Goodman Casino
• Yabby Casino
• Neon54
• AlfCasino

The ACMA has blocked around 785 illegal gambling and affiliate websites since November 2019. The gambling regulator has also pulled out more than 200 illegal services from the Australian market since it started enforcing new illegal offshore gambling rules in 2017.

The last round of bans by the ACMA took place in May this year when the regulator issued blocking orders against three offshore gambling and affiliate websites after it was discovered that the platforms were operating illegally in the country. Vave, Online Casinos Australia, and Highway Casino were expelled as a result.

A similar incident took place in February this year when the ACMA requested that ISPs block online casinos like Stella Spins, Boomerang Casino, Olympia Casino, 24 Casino, Pokie Surf, and Rock n Reels for regulation violations.

The ACMA also voiced concerns over a gambling website that instead of money, used CS:GO skins as currency. Due to its connection with the first-person shooter game, which is popular among young people, the regulator stated that the site was dangerous as it would likely cause underage people to gamble.

On Wednesday, the ACMA stated that blocking these illegal gambling websites was one of the ways for it to protect Australians from predatory entities.

The regulator also informed gamblers that regardless of whether a service looks legitimate, most often it did not have the required customer protections.

As most of the ACMA’s actions are supported by customer complaints, the watchdog arranged for Australians to reach out to it if anybody identified an illegal gambling website. The license and safety of an online casino or sports betting site can be verified on the ACMA’s official website.

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