Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Dutch gambling authority, has issued a warning regarding fraudulent lottery licences obtained through identity falsification.
What prompted the regulator to react was uncovering a lottery licence acquired by an individual on behalf of third-division football club Quick Boys, pretending to be the team’s Chairman.
As per the KSA, the fraudster opened a number of lottery websites on behalf of Quick Boys, which had never applied for the licence nor had anything to do with it. These were loterij.quickboys.nl, loterijenqb.com, besteloterijqb.com, nieuweqb.com, bestenl.com, topnetherlands.com, newloterij.com and topsloterij.com.
The warning cautioned anyone who visits these websites not to input any personal information, including their names, physical addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers or bank details. What the individual does with this data is still unknown, the KSA added.
If a customer has already made a payment, the general advice is to contact the relevant payments provider and alert it about the transaction. Two separate reporting routes are also available, including directly contacting the police or opening a complaint case with the KSA.
Those who have already interacted with any of the above listed websites are advised to stay vigilant for any type of suspicious communication attempts. In addition, if anyone is in doubt about a licence in the future, they can also visit the regulator’s website for official information.
The KSA has itself already contacted the police about the case.
It also appears that the Quick Boys accident is not an exception. Attempts to misuse the name and brands of legal associations have been rising in numbers, the KSA confirmed, labeling it as a ‘new risk for the regulator’s oversight duties’.
Ella Seijsener, Director of Permits and Supervision at the KSA, said: “Consumers should be able to rely on a license from the Ksa. We take very seriously that a scammer has managed to mislead our application process.
“We have immediately tightened the control over the identity of applicants and domain names that appear in the gambling guide.”