Fake .co.nl copies of licensed Dutch gambling sites taken down
Illegal operators copied licensed Dutch gambling sites under .co.nl addresses and redirected visitors; 86 sites reported to the domain operator have been removed so far.
In brief
- What happened
- The Dutch gambling regulator Ksa had 26 fake .co.nl websites copying licensed gambling sites removed, and 86 sites in total have been reported to the domain operator and taken down.
- Why it matters
- The copies sent visitors on to illegal gambling websites, and the Ksa says it is finding such cloned sites more often.
- Who it affects
- Licensed Dutch gambling operators: almost all of the 26 removed sites were copies of their websites.
Twenty-six cloned gambling websites with misleading .co.nl domain names have been removed, the Dutch gambling regulator says. Almost all of them copied sites of licensed operators.
The Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa) said it meets such fraudulent sites more and more often. According to the Ksa, illegal operators rebuild websites of licensed gambling providers and add .co.nl instead of .nl. Visitors to the fake sites are redirected to an illegal gambling website.
The details
- The extension: .co.nl is meant for websites of Dutch companies and is offered by the independent CO.NL operator, according to the Ksa.
- The removal: after the Ksa informed the operator, the 26 sites were offline within 48 hours at most. The Ksa said the operator cooperated well.
- The copies: nearly all 26 were copies of websites held by licence holders.
- The wider count: the investigation also turned up other illegal gambling sites. So far 86 websites have been reported to CO.NL and removed.
The Ksa did not say how many of the 86 are clones, or who runs the sites.
Related
The Ksa also revoked a lottery licence obtained by identity fraud in a football club's name, as reported on 5 October 2026.
Drafted with AI assistance from the regulator's official notice and reviewed by our editors before publication. How we work