Sky News Prompts UKGC Emergency Investigation Into Illegal Casinos Targeting Minors via Roblox

Following an investigation by Sky News, the UKGC had launched an emergency investigation into Roblox gambling. The investigation has revealed that rogue online casinos are using the popular gaming platform Roblox to target children as young as 12 years old to gamble.

Alarming Investigation Results

According to the results of the investigation launched by Sky News, and then the UKGC, unauthorized casinos have been allowing players to log in and access gambling games using only their Roblox credentials. It was uncovered that the players in question were minors, as young as 12 years old.

Once logged in, kids can proceed to gamble with the in-game currency, Robux, on casino games such as slots and blackjack. The players were also able to withdraw winnings as cryptocurrency, which can then be converted into real cash.

Hence, what was supposed to be a virtual game popular amongst the young, turned out to be a real gamble. And considering around 42% of Roblox’s 80 million daily active users are 12 or younger, this is a massive problem whose scope is not easy to delineate right now.

According to Sky News, their investigation included talking to a minor who had, in two years, gambled around around 15 million Robux (£150,000). The minor had not known that he was committing a criminal offence, as he was only 14 when he started playing the games as a way to ‘make extra money’.

This is especially alarming considering it is happening in the UK, one of the biggest iGaming markets with some of the strictest laws and frameworks in the world. If this could happen in such a well-protected space as the UK casino scene is, what kind of danger preys in other, smaller and less protected markets?

Casino Shutdown Did Not Last Too Long

The investigation focused on three major Robux casinos: BloxFlip, Bloxmoon, and RBLXWild. Together, these three attract in total about 2.8 million visitors every month, with millions in bets.

Data from Bloxmoon showed that, since it went live in late 2022, users have lost a total of $11.4 million (£8.9 million) on bets on the site. Between April and October of 2024, the total amount of wagers of the users’ reached $22.3 million.  The casino earned $2.2 million revenue, averaging daily earnings of $10,281 (£8,149), which is astounding.

However, the Sky News investigation also revealed that the casinos are not working with Roblox. In fact, Roblox has nothing to do with it, as the culprits are the illegal, unlicensed casinos that are working alongside Roblox and preying on minors via social media influencers.

Sky News alerted the UKGC of their findings, and the UKGC quickly sent a takedown request to the hosting providers. Bloxmoon immediately went offline, but then, less than two days later, reemerged using a slightly altered web address. The same thing happened with RBLXWild. They are currently blocked in several countries, including the UK.

The Commission’s Chief Executive, Andrew Rhodes, stated that criminals – the owners of the websites – have consistently tried to take advantage of people, including children, through sites like these.

Roblox Corporation told Sky News that the casinos are “in no way endorsed or authorized by Roblox” and that the company has taken “numerous steps to disrupt their activity, which violates our Terms of Use.” They added that the company was committed to working with law enforcement to address the issue.

What This Could Mean

It is unclear what can happen in the future, but one thing is for sure: minors are not as protected as they should be. And unfortunately, there are companies looking to find even the smallest of cracks to get in and prey on unsuspecting minors who are not aware of the dangers and the full scope of gambling on the internet.

In fact, the UKGC recently published the latest 2024 Young People and Gambling Report, a study into children’s and young people’s exposure to as well as involvement in all forms of gambling.

If you want a more in-depth understanding of this issue, you can listen to the Sky News Daily podcast below.