The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has identified red-flag indicators of money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing across the gaming and gambling sector.
The report, Risks of Gaming and Gambling, released Wednesday, updates FATF’s 2009 analysis of the casino sector, the iGaming Business reported. It incorporates responses from 80 jurisdictions, submissions from another 29 and feedback gathered through consultations with industry stakeholders.
Land-based and online casinos, as well as sports betting, have the highest exposure to money laundering risks, FATF said. Lotteries and scratchcards, meanwhile, were assessed as lower risk.
The report also found more documented cases of terrorist financing involving online gaming than gambling, while proliferation financing risks remain limited across both sectors.
FATF highlighted cash, e-wallets, mobile money, and virtual assets as payment channels that can be particularly susceptible to misuse. The risks increase when transactions are deliberately divided into smaller deposits to stay below reporting thresholds.
FATF President Giles Thomson said unregulated sectors could become “attractive gateways for fraudsters, professional money launderers and organised criminal networks”.
He called on governments to strengthen oversight, take action against illegal and offshore operators, and increase cooperation between the public and private sectors.
The Danish Gambling Authority said Friday that the report follows a broader review by FATF member countries over the past year into risks linked to the gaming sector.
The regulator said it contributed to the review and participated in FATF’s gaming sector working group. It added that many of the indicators identified in the report are relevant to operators licensed in Denmark.
FATF’s focus on illegal and offshore gambling also comes as Denmark steps up enforcement against unlicensed operators. In 2025, Spillemyndigheden obtained a court order blocking 178 unlicensed gambling websites, marking its largest action against illegal gambling sites. The case showed how operators can use different versions of websites to conceal their activities, a practice FATF also identifies as a warning sign.
The case highlighted the use of multiple website variations to disguise illegal operators, a tactic also identified by FATF as a red-flag indicator.
The action forms part of broader efforts to address money laundering and terrorist financing risks in gambling. FATF uses its grey and black lists to identify jurisdictions with weaknesses in their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls, which can result in increased monitoring and reputational consequences.