Following investigations, the ACMA found the sites operating in breach of the country’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001. Consequently, it has requested that internet service providers (ISP) shut down access to them.
14 websites have been flagged, including Golden Lady Casino, Spin Samurai, Lucky Dreams, Comet Room, Paradiso Room and Casino-On-Line.
“Website blocking provides a valuable opportunity to alert the public to illegal gambling services through the messaging that appears when there is an attempt to access the site,” stated the Australian watchdog.
“The ACMA is reminding consumers that even if a service looks legitimate, it’s unlikely to have important customer protections. This means Australians who use illegal gambling services risk losing their money.”
The ACMA started making blocking requests in November 2019 and to date, 375 illegal websites have been blocked. Over 150 illegal websites have also withdrawn from the Australian market since the ACMA began enforcing new illegal offshore gambling rules in 2017.
Its latest requests come after the ACMA issued a formal warning to Australian gambling giant Tabcorp in November over 37 illegal online in-play bets on a US college basketball game.
Also last month, the ACMA requested that ISPs shut down access to two lottery websites, We Love Lotto and Red Fox Lotto. These were the first websites of their kind to be hit with blocking requests after it was discovered that they offer tickets in major overseas online lotteries and were not licensed in Australia.
