On Friday, the Dutch gaming authority (KSA) revoked a lottery licence that had been fraudulently acquired under the name of the amateur football club Quick Boys. The KSA revealed that an unidentified individual impersonated the club’s chairman during the application process, allowing for the unauthorized operation of a lottery, which facilitated multiple websites selling lottery tickets.
The authority clarified that Quick Boys was not involved in the application and is regarded as a victim of identity fraud.
In a consumer alert, the KSA cautioned individuals against sharing personal or financial details on the fraudulent websites. Those who had purchased tickets were advised to reach out to their banks, file police reports, and inform both the national fraud helpdesk and the KSA to help assess the situation.
The KSA has reported the incident to the police and has opted not to provide further comments as investigations are ongoing.
Notably, incidents of forged licence attempts have risen, with scammers using false information to acquire licences, exploiting their legitimacy to illicitly attract consumer money. Although KSA’s enhanced verification processes have thwarted similar fraud attempts on at least one occasion, the specific operator involved remains unnamed.
In light of the Quick Boys case, the KSA has swiftly reinforced its identity verification protocols and has increased scrutiny of the domain names included in its public Gambling Guide, known as Kansspelwijzer. Ella Seijsener, the KSA’s director of licensing, underscored the importance of consumer trust in licensed operations, expressing the seriousness of the breach: "We take the fact that a scammer managed to mislead our application process very seriously."
Additionally, the KSA has recently revised its guidance regarding statutory means testing for online gambling participants. This update follows inspections that indicated persistent deficiencies despite improvements in the industry. The means testing aims to ensure that players do not gamble beyond their financial means and is a crucial aspect of the KSA’s duty of care framework initiated in 2024.
