Dutch Gambling Regulator Has 26 Clone Gambling Websites Taken Offline

The Kansspelautoriteit, the Dutch gambling regulator, announced on October 7, 2026, that 26 cloned gambling websites using misleading.co.nl domain names were taken offline within 48 hours of it alerting the extension’s independent operator, and that 86 illegal gambling sites have been reported and removed so far.

Cloned Domains and 48-Hour Removals

According to the regulator, it is increasingly encountering fraudulent gambling sites that are clones of legal sites, using existing domain names but with a different extension. The co.nl extension was developed for websites of Dutch businesses and is offered by the independent CO.NL operator.

The Kansspelautoriteit said illegal gambling providers abuse the extension by rebuilding the websites of licensed gambling providers and adding co.nl in place of.nl, which it described as an attempt to mislead consumers. Visitors to the fake sites are redirected to an illegal gambling website.

The 26 removals followed the regulator informing the CO.NL operator, which it said cooperated with the action. Once the Kansspelautoriteit had passed on the information, the websites were offline within a maximum of 48 hours. Almost all of the 26 websites were copies of the websites of licence holders.

The regulator said it also came across other illegal gambling sites during its investigation into websites using the.co.nl extension. As of the October 7 announcement, 86 websites had been reported to CO.NL and subsequently removed.

Cloudflare Precedent and Legal Basis

On April 4, 2024, the Kansspelautoriteit announced agreements with Cloudflare intended to make the tackling of illegal gambling offerings more effective. Under those agreements, the regulator can actively approach Cloudflare during its investigations for more information about the hosting parties behind illegal gambling providers.

The regulator had earlier imposed two binding instructions on Cloudflare over the possible facilitation of illegal offerings, with the aim of stopping that facilitation. It withdrew the instructions after discussions showed Cloudflare could not technically end the violations itself, but could provide information that could help the investigations.

The Cloudflare arrangements followed a Kansspelautoriteit investigation into the illegal affiliate websites nederlandscasinos.net and onlinecasinosspelen.com. Because the identity of the owners of those affiliate websites could not be traced, Cloudflare, as internet service provider, was ordered to stop providing its services to the affiliates. The regulator said illegal providers and affiliates do everything they can to avoid sanctions, which often makes it difficult to identify the owners and hosting parties behind such websites.

Offering games of chance in the Netherlands without a licence from the Kansspelautoriteit is prohibited, and promoting illegal gambling is also not permitted under the Betting and Gaming Act, the Wet op de kansspelen. The regulator’s listed measures against illegal offerings include raising barriers at payment providers and internet providers, so that these intermediaries no longer offer their services to illegal providers.

Player Protection and Network Enforcement

On its page setting out the approach to illegal online gambling, the Kansspelautoriteit states that illegal gambling sites pose a risk to players, particularly vulnerable groups such as minors and young adults. It said players have no protection on illegal sites, where supervision and consumer protection are absent.

The regulator said its enforcement targets not only illegal providers themselves but also the parties that make illegal offerings possible or promote them, which it calls facilitators. It lists websites and apps that give access to illegal games of chance, affiliates and influencers that advertise for illegal providers, payment service providers and internet providers that offer support, and social media platforms on which illegal games of chance are promoted.

Its listed cooperation partners include industry associations of legal providers, Google, Meta, YouTube and app stores, gambling regulators from other countries, hosting providers, banks and payment providers, and SIDN.

In 2025, the Kansspelautoriteit said it was conducting dozens of investigations into illegal online providers and their facilitators, with extra attention to providers that target vulnerable groups and to advertising for illegal providers via influencers or affiliates. The regulator said its goal is for at least 90 percent of Dutch players to choose legal providers of games of chance.