Australia is intensifying its crackdown on the unregulated gambling landscape. Recently, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) directed internet service providers to block an additional 10 unlawful gambling websites. Among these are Zizobet, KingAUD, Lucky Vibe, Daily Spins, Gambiva, Hot Pokies Group, Pokies99, Betcoin, TenoBet, and Lightning-bet.com, all identified by the ACMA as operating outside the law in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. Notably, the ACMA pointed out that Lightning-bet.com is designed to mislead users by resembling a legitimate licensed site named LightningBet.
Since initiating its blocking measures in November 2019, the ACMA has successfully blocked a total of 1,774 illegal gambling and advertising websites. More broadly, over 230 foreign gambling service providers have exited Australia since the ACMA intensified its enforcement actions against rogue operators in 2017. The authority continues to inform consumers that foreign gambling firms do not offer the same protections as licensed Australian companies, highlighting the importance of verifying operators against the ACMA’s public registry of authorized betting companies.
