Kansspelautoriteit enforcement of offshore sites: Sanctions, Blockades and Risks

The Kansspelautoriteit tackles illegal gambling operators that are active without a Dutch license. This is done on the basis of the Remote Gambling Act. The regulator uses heavy measures such as penalty payments, blockages by internet providers, and cooperation with banks. The goal is to protect Dutch players. Anyone who still plays on such a site misses the safety of CRUKS, must arrange gambling tax themselves, and has no right to consumer protection.

Enforcement instruments: From penalty payments to internet blockages

The Kansspelautoriteit wants to stop illegal offers immediately. The regulator does this with high financial sanctions and technical blockades. Through an order subject to a penalty payment, providers are forced to bar Dutch players. This is intended to protect consumers from unsafe platforms and guarantee a fair market according to the Remote Gambling Act.

How does an order subject to a penalty payment work?

An order subject to a penalty payment is not a direct fine, but a remedial sanction. The Kansspelautoriteit gives the violating party a period to stop the illegal offer. If the provider does not do so, they must pay a sum of money per week or per day. The financial impact is significant. In recent measures, the penalty payment amounts to €280.000 per week, with a maximum of €840.000. This forces companies like Techno Offshore Limited and Novatech Solutions N.V. to cease their activities for Dutch IP addresses immediately. The goal is preventive: to remove access to illegal gambling and guide players to licensed providers.

Examples of recent sanctions

The Kansspelautoriteit recently took tough action against entities targeting the Dutch market without a license. Techno Offshore Limited and Novatech Solutions N.V. received an order subject to a penalty payment because they offered illegal games of chance through multiple domains. These involved websites like simplecasino.com, qbet.com, 55bet.com, and nolimitbet.com. Investigation showed that these providers did not effectively bar Dutch players. During an initial check, an account could be created and played on immediately. Some email addresses of the regulator were later blocked, but other Dutch accounts remained accessible. The Ksa viewed this as deliberate circumvention of enforcement. This case shows how the regulator identifies and tackles offshore operations behind sites like 55bet.com and nolimitbet.com.

Administrative enforcement versus fines

The difference with a fine is that the provider can prevent the payment of an order subject to a penalty by ending the violation. An administrative coercion order or fine is a direct punishment for the violation itself. For repeat offenders, these amounts often run high. The Kansspelautoriteit can combine both instruments: first an order subject to a penalty payment to stop the offer, and then a fine for the violations already committed. In addition, the Ksa invests in technical barriers, such as ISP blockades together with internet providers. This limits physical access to the servers of sites like simplecasino.com and qbet.com. This approach of financial pressure and technical blockade puts pressure on the grey market, although providers from jurisdictions such as Curaçao continue to circumvent rules. Players must know that participating in these unlicensed sites offers no protection through CRUKS or other addiction prevention measures.

Technical blockades: ISP and DNS measures

The strategy focuses on cutting off the technical infrastructure of illegal providers. Cooperation with internet providers physically blocks access for Dutch players. This seriously disrupts the operational continuity of unlicensed casinos.

How do ISP and DNS blockades work?

An ISP blockade is a technical measure whereby internet providers refuse the connection to specific domains of illegal casinos. Players in the Netherlands can therefore no longer exchange data with the servers of these providers. The effectiveness has recently increased due to advanced filtering. Providers and the Kansspelautoriteit jointly identify 'mirror sites' faster.

In addition to ISP measures, IP address blocking plays an important role. This involves blocking specific server addresses, preventing users from gaining access through direct connections. Offshore parties must therefore make constant technical adjustments. This increases their costs and degrades the user experience due to frequent interruptions. A DNS blockade furthermore prevents the domain name of an illegal casino from being resolved to the corresponding IP address. Without this translation, the website remains unreachable, even if the player knows the exact address. This layered approach makes it increasingly difficult for providers to serve the Dutch market without their site going offline immediately.

Financial blockades and supervision

In addition to technical barriers, the financial lifeline of illegal casinos is being tackled. The Ksa cuts off payment flows by cooperating with financial institutions. This is often more effective than web blockades because it affects the core activity of the casino: processing money.

Blockade of payment flows

Financial accessibility is limited. iDEAL, the most widely used online payment method in the Netherlands, is not available at offshore sites. Participating banks refuse transactions to unlicensed providers. This protects players from the risk of their money getting stuck with operators without legal liability in the Netherlands.

Trustly, a popular service for direct bank transfers, also applies strict compliance rules. Transactions to known illegal gambling platforms are automatically flagged and blocked. These blockades are essential because players at these blocked providers cannot appeal to the protection of the Kansspelautoriteit or the CRUKS register.

Cooperation with financial regulators

Regulators strengthen the fight against illegal offers. De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) supervises the integrity of payment transactions and cooperates with the Kansspelautoriteit to minimize money laundering risks in illegal gambling flows. DNB flags suspicious transaction patterns that point to activities of unlicensed providers.

In addition, the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) plays a role in ensuring fair financial practices. Although the AFM primarily supervises investment products, their vigilance contributes to the general climate of financial compliance in which illegal gambling operations are given less room. This cooperation falls under the broader policy of the Ministry of Justice and Security, which is responsible for the legislation around remote gambling. The ministry sets the frameworks within which the Kansspelautoriteit and financial regulators operate, ensuring a coherent approach to the grey market.

Risks for Dutch players at offshore providers

The focus is on closing the technical and financial gateways for illegal operators, but this leaves the consumer vulnerable. For Dutch players, this means they fall outside the legal safety net. They do not have access to CRUKS or guaranteed consumer protection in case of disputes. Although participation is not punishable for the user, illegal providers do not automatically remit gambling tax. This leads to complex tax obligations and the risk of fines by the Tax and Customs Administration.

No access to CRUKS and play restrictions

The Central Register for Exclusion of Games of Chance (CRUKS) is an important tool for addiction prevention, managed by the Kansspelautoriteit to guarantee safe play. Players who register in the Central Register for Exclusion of Games of Chance (CRUKS) are excluded for a minimum of six months from all legal providers in the Netherlands, both online and land-based. Licensees are legally obliged to consult this register before granting access. Illegal providers structurally ignore this check.

As a result, players at offshore sites miss the protection of the Central Register for Exclusion of Games of Chance (CRUKS). Without this link, players with a gambling problem can continue to play unhindered. This goes against the addiction prevention policy pursued by the government. The Kansspelautoriteit emphasizes that safe play is only guaranteed within the licensed offering, where strict requirements apply for signaling risky behavior. For help and advice, players can contact Stichting Speel Verantwoord, an independent organization that offers support for gambling problems, but this service is not linked to offshore platforms.

Tax consequences: the gambling tax

With legal providers, gambling tax is automatically withheld and remitted, but with offshore sites, this burden lies entirely with the player. The Dutch Tax and Customs Administration applies the applicable rate to the net monthly profit, an amount that players must calculate and declare themselves. Because illegal providers do not offer transparent transaction overviews in accordance with Dutch standards, the player runs the risk that the tax authorities will view the entire payout as taxable income, without deduction of losses.

Failing to file this declaration entails concrete financial risks, including fines. In contrast to legal markets, where the administration is handled by the operator, the player must provide proof of the net profit himself at offshore sites. This often leads to legal uncertainty.

Lack of consumer protection

Enforcement results in a situation where the player cannot appeal to the regulator in case of disputes. The authority is only authorized for licensees. With illegal providers, the player falls outside the scope of consumer protection. This means that in the event of non-payment or fraud, the Dutch government cannot intervene, as a result of which players often lose their money.

Furthermore, the guarantee of fair play and protection against money laundering, elements that are strictly controlled at legal providers, is lacking. Players are advised to report abuses to the Kansspelautoriteit, but this rarely leads to individual financial recovery from offshore operators.

Strategy and prioritization of the Kansspelautoriteit

The Ksa follows a risk-driven model. The authority does not act arbitrarily but prioritizes providers with the largest number of Dutch players and the most aggressive marketing. This Kansspelautoriteit Enforcement Strategy is anchored in the Remote Gambling Act and focuses on protecting consumers against illegal offerings that do not possess a license.

Criteria for enforcement priority

The regulator cannot combat all illegal providers simultaneously and therefore makes strategic choices. The Kansspelautoriteit Enforcement Strategy determines that the size of the target group is the most important factor: the more Dutch players play unprotected at an illegal provider, the higher the priority for intervention. In addition, the Ksa considers whether specific offers, such as a wider game selection than legally permitted, attempt to lure players away from legal providers.

For a legal license, organizations must meet strict requirements, including a Bibob screening and the presence of a representative in the Netherlands. Providers without this license, such as many platforms licensed in Curaçao, fall outside this supervision and are therefore actively combated to prevent crime and addiction. The focus is on cutting off the technical and financial lifeline of these parties.

The role of advertising and visibility

Enforcement targets not only the gaming platforms themselves, but also the marketing channels. The Reclamecode Commissie (Advertising Code Committee) plays a vital role in this by supervising the Reclamecode Online Kansspelen (Advertising Code Online Games of Chance). Illegal providers are not allowed to make targeted advertising towards Dutch consumers, but this nevertheless often happens via social media and affiliate networks.

The Ksa reports detected illegal advertising directly to the respective platforms to reduce visibility. The Reclamecode Commissie assesses complaints about misleading expressions and can impose sanctions on members who violate the code. For foreign casinos without a license, any form of recruitment aimed at the Netherlands is a violation of the KOA Act. By proactively blocking illegal content, the discoverability of these providers has recently decreased significantly.

International cooperation and jurisdictions

The Ksa looks critically at licenses from jurisdictions such as Curaçao or Malta. Although a provider may have a license abroad, this does not mean they are allowed to operate legally in the Netherlands. The Remote Gambling Act requires that providers targeting the Dutch market hold a local license.

Michel Groothuizen, as chairman of the Kansspelautoriteit, emphasizes that consumer protection is central. Players at offshore sites fall outside the CRUKS register and have no access to help through Stichting Speel Verantwoord. The Ksa cooperates with international partners, but enforces strictly against providers that do not use the Dutch licensing procedure, regardless of their foreign status. The complexity of enforcement in Curaçao often lies in the slow provision of information and the lack of direct enforcement agreements, which the Ksa compensates for by cutting off payment flows and internet access locally in the Netherlands.

About this article - Editorial standards

Author: Sarah Weber - Casino Tester & Bonus Analyst

Fact-checked by: Dr. Markus Hoffmann - Senior iGaming Compliance Analyst

Last updated: 2026-07-15.

This article about "Kansspelautoriteit enforcement offshore sites" was written by Sarah Weber and content-checked by Dr. Markus Hoffmann. Both update the content regularly in case of changes in regulations, licenses, and bonus conditions. All references to licenses, regulators, and legislation link to public sources (the local gambling authority, the applicable local gambling legislation).

About the author

8+ years of experience reviewing casinos, 200+ personally tested platforms within the EU and worldwide. Former member of the eCOGRA Player Advocacy Program (2018-2022). Specialization: wagering requirements, payout processes, and customer service evaluation.

About the reviewer

More than 12 years of experience in the iGaming industry, including 5 years as a compliance consultant for licensees in multiple regulated markets. PhD in economic mathematics. Focus areas: bonus mathematics, wagering analysis, and player protection systems.

Responsible gambling

Gambling can be addictive. If you feel like you are losing control of your play, contact the relevant gambling problem helpline or use the national self-exclusion register (the relevant national self-exclusion register). Set personal deposit and loss limits BEFORE playing with real money. Breaks and cooling-off tools from the provider are there to keep play manageable.

Legal notice

De informatie in dit artikel is uitsluitend bedoeld voor redactionele en vergelijkende doeleinden en vormt geen juridisch advies. Spelers zijn zelf verantwoordelijk voor het naleven van de lokale regelgeving.