Suspecting illegal gambling activities?

Report about illegal online gambling 

Once a year, the Danish Gambling Authority publishes a review on illegal online gambling and on our work in the area. 

Read the report

Why should you choose the legal sites?

If you choose a gambling operator with a licence in Denmark, you can be certain that the games are offered in a fair, responsible and transparent manner and in accordance with Danish legislation. 

At the same time, you are ensured that the duties of a potential prize have been paid, when you choose a gambling operator with a Danish licence. 

Especially for pyramid schemes 

It is illegal to provide pyramid schemes in Denmark. The characteristics of pyramid schemes are that:

• Participation requires money stakes or other stakes of an economic value 
• The participants are made to believe that there is a possibility of a financial gain, and 
• The financial gain mainly derives from the payment of stakes from participants who one by one enter the arrangement

Pyramid schemes are built upon a “pyramid” form. This means that the basis of the initiator and the participants’ financial gain in the scheme is created through the recruitment of more than one new participant by at least some of the participants in the scheme, thereby making the pyramid grow. 

In order to be called a pyramid scheme, the financial gain/prize must mainly derive from the payment of a stake, which is paid by new participants in the game. Therefore, the revenue in a pyramid scheme does not primarily derive from an actual turnover of goods or services. An arrangement can be built as a pyramid without violating the prohibition of pyramid schemes if it is an actual sales organisation. Such organisations are often known as "Multi Level Marketing" or "Network Marketing". 

The distinction between the possibly legal Multi Level/Network Marketing cases and the illegal pyramid schemes will typically rely on a very concrete assessment. 

The act applies for everyone, both private persons and companies. It is only the person or the company who provides the pyramid scheme who can be directly punished according to the rules of the Danish Gambling Act. By “supply” of pyramid schemes is meant the act of beginning the actual scheme and continuing it by acquiring new members to the game. This applies regardless of whether the new members accept the invitation. 

Suspecting matchfixing?

If you suspect that matchfixing is taking place in connection with a bet, you can contact the Danish Gambling Authority via our contact form. 

Contact the Danish Gambling Authority

Reporting illegal supply of gambling or illegal advertising 

If you discover illegal supply of gambling on the Internet or advertising for illegal supply of gambling, please contact the Danish Gambling Authority. You can report it to us by using our contact form or call us on tel. no. +45 72 38 79 13. 

It would be very helpful to us if your report includes the domain name/name of the medium/address of the operator including the date of when you saw the advertisement. We would also appreciate it if you attach documentation of the illegal offer or advertisement. 

What happens to the report?

One of the Danish Gambling Authority’s most important tasks is to protect the legal gambling market, i.e. the gambling operators who have received a licence. Therefore, we are always interested in hearing whether a gambling operator without a licence advertises for or provides gambling. 

Your report will be included in our regular supervision of the gambling market where we can investigate further whether a gambling operator without a licence has advertised for or provided gambling.  

Gambling operators who provide gambling without a licence will receive a petition from the Danish Gambling Authority to terminate the illegal supply of games. In the end we will be able to take the matter to the district court in order to have the website in question blocked and/or report the gambling operator in question to the police. 

Media who advertise for gambling or gambling operators without a licence will receive a petition from us to stop the illegal advertising. If the media does not stop the illegal advertising, the media will be reported to police.