The ongoing black market battle in Britain is one that evolves with every passing day, as unregulated operators appear able to operate with almost no oversight online.
Recently, regulatory institutions, like the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), have adopted new techniques to combat this growing threat: educating regular punters on what the illegal market really means.
Illegal gambling operators don't carry out the basic checks that licensed operators do.
As BGC CEO Grainne Hurst highlighted on @GBNews, investigations have shown illegal sites allowing accounts to be opened using the identity of a six-year-old child and even one of the FBI's… pic.twitter.com/SO4DYSWEWC
— Betting and Gaming Council (@BetGameCouncil) July 24, 2026
Little Bo Peep
Hurst begins by highlighting how the black market isn’t just a threat to regular, legal-aged punters, but also to what she describes as: “young children.”
Illegal gambling advertising has in recent years flooded platforms like Meta and Instagram, often appearing with no indication of paid promotion. Everyone from niche content creators to some of the biggest musicians, like Drake, and top streamers has created content either focused on or featuring unregulated betting platforms.
Rainbet and Stake are two of the biggest culprits.
Hurst continues, mentioning one case where a journalist was able to create an account on these platforms with the username “LittleBoPeepAge6,” and was able to freely gamble without triggering any player protection warnings whatsoever.
Hurst went on, saying that same journalist was able to sign up to these websites using the name and details of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) most wanted terrorist (she didn’t specify which one), before being allowed to gamble freely on the site without any warning.
Regulated markets
Hurst’s point was to illustrate how these extreme examples reflect a broader issue with using unregulated platforms. They don’t carry out proper player protection, they don’t ensure under-18s aren’t accessing their services, and they don’t care about people being signed up to self-exclusion lists.
In short, unregulated platforms will take money from anyone, regardless of who they are.
Hurst’s closing statement, though, is one regulatory observers will be very familiar with: while the regulated sector is built on compliance with the law, those same protective rules risk pushing players towards the unregulated market instead.
Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs), a controversial topic in UK gambling, have been heavily scrutinised for their role in creating friction, which critics believe will ultimately push players onto platforms that don’t require the same level of checks, exposing them to greater risk.
“We need to make sure that people who want to have a flutter can do it in the regulated space, where there are protections, not be pushed into the illegal market,” Hurst concluded.
