Good morning. Every year, British people bet billions on unregulated gambling sites. Given how ubiquitous legitimate betting shops are on UK high streets, and how inescapable ads for online casinos are on social media, sport and primetime TV, the scale of underground operations appears baffling.
But the offshore online gambling market is one of the world’s most profitable – and least regulated – industries, estimated to be worth tens of billions. Opaque ownership, offshore licences and international inaction has made these often easily accessible and widely advertised digital casinos an attractive hunting ground for organised crime and corruption.
