Portugal Reprimands Operators and Influencers Over Unlicensed Gambling Ads

The Portuguese Association of Betting and Online Games (APAJO) has filed complaints against operators and influencers who made misleading promotions. The motion reflects the body’s overall efforts to weed out the promotion of unlicensed gambling platforms.

Operators and Influencers Promoted Unlicensed Gaming

As it turns out, the APAJO filed concerns against BC.Game, Betify, Monro, Stake, Strada, Vem Bet, Weiss and Wolfi. The association understood that the eight operators in question had promoted their products in the country despite lacking licenses to operate.

Similar complaints were issued against five prominent local influencers, including Bruno Savate, Cláudia Nayara, GODMOTA, Numeiro and ritinhayoutuber. Some of these boast hundreds of thousands of followers across social media, providing them with a platform to promote products to potentially millions of people in Portugal.

The APAJO insisted that unlicensed operators should not promote their products to people in Portugal and that ignorance of the local rules was not a sufficient reason to excuse the violations.

As mentioned, the complaints come as part of the APAJO’s broader efforts to limit the influence of the black gambling market and channel players toward legal operators.

Officials Asked Players to Be Careful

APAJO officials advised players in Portugal to familiarize themselves with the list of legal operators. It noted that some black-market companies are posing as legal operators, which is why consumers should be extra vigilant.

Speaking of which, Ricardo Domingues, president of the APAJO, noted that a recent study suggested that only 37.7% of the players who wager on illegal platforms, are aware of the platforms’ illegality. The rest are fully unaware that the operator they are engaging with is illegal.

Because of that, Domingues emphasized that Portugal has a responsibility to make sure Portuguese media is accurate and does not provide viewers with inaccurate or wrongful information about gambling operators. He explained that black market companies offer significantly fewer player protections, exposing players to significant risks.