One check defeats every variation below: look the number up on the regulator's own site, reached by your own search rather than by clicking anything on the casino. Everything else on this page is detail about why that one step matters.
Four ways a casino licence claim can mislead you
They shade into each other, and a single site may use more than one.
- The image with nothing behind it. A regulator's logo in the footer, no licence number in text anywhere. The most common version, and the easiest to catch: there is nothing to look up.
- The borrowed number. A real, live licence number belonging to a different operator. It checks out on the register — against a company that is not this one. Caught by reading the register entry rather than just confirming it exists.
- The expired licence. A number that was genuinely theirs and is now revoked, suspended or surrendered. The entry still appears; the status line is the part that matters.
- The badge that links to a fake page. The badge is clickable and lands on a convincing verification page controlled by the operator. Defeated by never following that link.
What warning signs suggest a casino licence may be fake?
- Logo without a number. Legitimate operators publish the number, because it is the thing that proves the claim.
- Number in the image but not in text. Text can be copied and searched; an image cannot. Putting it only in a graphic is a choice.
- A regulator that does not exist. Official-sounding names and seals with no corresponding authority. Search the name on its own.
- Mismatch between footer company and terms company. Two different entities named in two places is a question worth asking before depositing.
- A licence for a different activity. A sports-betting authorisation does not cover casino games.
- A jurisdiction with no online gambling regulator at all. A company registration is not a gambling licence; the two are routinely presented as if they were the same thing.
How do I check a Curaçao casino licence seal?
Curaçao is where most of the badges in this market claim to come from, and its new system makes one specific check possible. Under the law in force since 24 December 2024, each licensed site should display a seal that opens a live certificate hosted on the regulator’s own domain, cert.cga.cw. The certificate names the licensed company, the domain and the status.
- Check the address bar, not the page design. A certificate on any domain other than
cert.cga.cwis not the regulator’s. - Check the domain on the certificate matches the site you came from.
- Treat an orange sub-licence seal as expired. The Curaçao Gaming Authority states that the old orange seals are no longer valid.
- Cross-check the register on the Authority’s own site, reached by your own search.
For Malta, the equivalent is the Authority’s URL Checker, which confirms whether a specific domain is covered by a licence.
What should I do if I find a fake casino licence?
- Do not deposit, and do not send documents. Identity documents are worth money independently of gambling.
- Screenshot the claim — the badge, the number, the page, with the date visible.
- Report it to the regulator being impersonated. Most accept reports of licence misuse. If the site is taking customers in Great Britain, you can also report it to the Gambling Commission through its confidential reporting route. Reporting may help regulators act against the site.
- Post the evidence on an established gambling complaints forum, factually. Operators care about those listings, and a documented report is far more useful than an angry one.
- If you have already deposited, withdraw whatever you can immediately and treat the rest as at risk. The escalation options are in what to do when a casino will not pay out — but be realistic: without a genuine licence, there is no authority above the operator.
If you already sent identity documents to a site that fails this check, treat those documents as compromised. Be alert to attempts to use them: unexpected account-verification emails, credit applications you did not make. Consider a credit-file notice. This is a separate problem from the money, and often the more expensive one.
Common questions
How common are fake licence claims?
Common enough that regulators publish warnings about it. The technique is cheap — a badge is an image file and a number is text — so it appears wherever an operator wants the appearance of oversight without the obligations.
Can I report a fake licence claim?
Yes. Regulators generally accept reports of operators misusing their name or licence numbers, and it is worth doing: it is one of the few actions available that protects people other than you.
Does a clickable badge mean it is real?
No. The link is controlled by the casino and can point anywhere, including a convincing copy of a regulator’s page. Navigate to the regulator yourself instead of following the badge.
