- Joined
- Feb 14, 2007
- Location
- Cyberspace
Spoiler: usually not.
THE CLICKABLE LOGO TEST
Here's the simplest trick in the book: click on that license logo at the bottom of the casino's website.Legitimate operators are required by their regulators to display a live, hyperlinked logo that takes you directly to the regulator's verification page. This page will show you the company name, license number, status, and other relevant details. This is true for the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), Kahnawake, Alderney, and most other reputable licensing bodies.
- If you click the logo and nothing happens? Red flag.
- Does it take you to a generic page with no specific license information? Red flag.
- If the link is broken or goes to a completely different website? Massive red flag.
- Scam casinos know most players don't bother clicking. They're counting on you seeing a logo and assuming everything's fine. Don't give them that luxury.
VERIFY DIRECTLY WITH THE REGULATOR
Even if the logo links somewhere, take the extra step: go directly to the regulator's website and search for the casino yourself.For MGA-licensed casinos, visit the Malta Gaming Authority website and use their license search. For UKGC, check their public register. For Kahnawake, they maintain a list of authorized operators.
If the casino isn't listed, or if the details don't match what's shown on the casino's website, you've caught them lying.
THE CURACAO SITUATION
Curaçao licensing has undergone major changes recently. As of December 2024, Curaçao transitioned from the old National Ordinance on Offshore Games of Hazard (NOOGH) framework to a new system under the National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK). Existing NOOGH licenses are being converted to the new framework, and the Curaçao Gaming Authority now operates an official verification portal at cert.gcb.cw, where you can check license validity directly.Real Curaçao licenses follow formats like "OGL/2024/xxx/xxxx" — but here's the important part: the license number must be displayed on the casino's website, AND there must be a clickable Curaçao Gaming Authority logo that links directly to cert.gcb.cw. If either element is missing, or if the logo doesn't take you to the official verification portal showing that specific casino's details, treat it as suspicious.
THE CURACAO SHELL GAME
Here's something we're seeing more and more: casinos that have legitimate Curaçao licenses but abuse them to accept players from restricted jurisdictions.The scam works like this: The casino has a proper license and displays the logo linking to Curaçao's official verification portal. Everything checks out. But when they want to accept players from places where they're not licensed to operate, they create a slightly different domain (adding numbers or changing the extension), remove the licensing information entirely, or disable the verification link.
Same casino, same operation, but now invisible to regulators. Players in restricted jurisdictions see no license info and assume it's just an oversight. It's not — it's deliberate.
FAKE LICENSE NUMBERS THAT SOUND REAL
Scammers have gotten creative with completely fabricated licenses. We've seen casinos claim things like:
"Master License 34389464EU granted by Curaçao" — This doesn't exist, never did. Curaçao doesn't issue "Master Licenses" with EU suffixes. Pure fiction designed to sound official. Also, the old Master licenses that were valid pre-2024 are no longer legitimate, using them now is fraud as declared by the Curaçao GCB itself.
"Permit number DEAJS/SCFVF/P-06/2005 granted by the General Directorate of Games and Sweepstakes" — This is particularly sneaky. The General Directorate of Games and Sweepstakes (Dirección General de Juegos y Sorteos) is a real Mexican regulatory body that issues legitimate licenses. But this specific permit number is fake. Scammers are piggybacking off the credibility of a real regulator with invented license numbers that can't be verified.
Fake Curaçao Gaming Control Board numbers — Scammers copy the real "OGL/2024/xxx/xxxx" format but invent the numbers. or use a legitimate license number but provide no verification badge, and/or that license number can’t be verified as belonging to that casino. Always verify directly at cert.gcb.cw.
If you can't verify a license number directly on the regulator's website as actually belonging to the casino website, assume it's fake.
RED FLAG JURISDICTIONS
When a casino tells you they're licensed in Anjouan — a tiny island in the Comoros off the east coast of Africa — that's not reassurance. That's a warning.
Anjouan became a popular destination for casino operators fleeing the tightening of Curaçao's licensing requirements. But here's the thing: according to a recent investigation by abc.net.au, the island's regulators are "fictitious entities" operating "illegally," and local authorities say the licenses — gambling or otherwise — aren't worth the virtual paper they're written on.
Our own experience backs this up. Player complaints typically go nowhere or are routinely closed in favour of the casino. A recent player complaint was thrown out by Anjouan "authorities" with the reason given that the casino "did not submit evidence." That's not how a legitimate regulator handles disputes — that's how a rubber-stamp operation protects the casinos paying for its meaningless licenses.
You can read more about Anjouan licensing issues here: abc.net.au takes a critical look at Anjouan licensing - Casinomeister Forum
Other red flags include tiny islands with no regulatory infrastructure, "licenses" from countries that don't actually regulate online gambling, or jurisdictions with no public register where you can verify operators. For example, Costa Rica, Mwali, Bali, etc. If you can't research the regulator independently, stay away.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Checking a casino's license takes two minutes. Click the logo, see where it takes you. Then go directly to the regulator's website and verify independently. If anything doesn't add up — wrong company name, missing license, dead links, unverifiable numbers, or jurisdictions designed to avoid oversight — don't deposit.A casino that lies about its license will lie about everything else, too.
We're hoping this helps to prevent that. The PAB team are overwhelmed with complaints...
