KSA revokes lottery licence obtained fraudulently using Quick Boys name

The Dutch gaming authority, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), revoked a lottery licence on Friday after finding it had been fraudulently obtained in the name of amateur football club Quick Boys, according to iGaming Business.

The regulator said an unidentified person impersonated the club's chairman during the licence application process, using the false identity to secure authorisation to run a lottery.

That licence was then used to set up several websites selling lottery tickets to the public, the KSA reported.

The authority was clear that Quick Boys itself had no part in applying for the licence and is being treated as a victim of identity fraud rather than a party to any wrongdoing.

Consumers who bought tickets through the affected sites have been told not to submit any further personal or financial details on them.

The KSA is urging anyone who has purchased tickets to contact their bank, file a police report, and alert both the national fraud helpdesk and the regulator itself, so the scale of the fraud can be assessed.

The KSA has lodged its own police report over the matter and says it will not comment further while that investigation is under way.

The regulator flagged a broader rise in attempts to obtain licences using false information, a tactic that exploits the credibility of a genuine authorisation to draw in consumer funds dishonestly.

It said enhanced verification checks have already stopped at least one similar attempt elsewhere, though it did not name the operator targeted.

Following the Quick Boys case, the KSA has tightened its identity verification procedures for licence applicants and increased scrutiny of domain names listed in its public Gambling Guide, the Kansspelwijzer.

Ella Seijsener, the KSA's director of licensing, acknowledged the seriousness of the breach, saying: "We take the fact that a scammer managed to mislead our application process very seriously."

Separately, the KSA has updated its guidance on the statutory means testing required for online gambling players, after inspections found continuing shortcomings in the sector despite recent improvements.

The means test is designed to stop players gambling beyond their financial means and sits within the KSA's duty-of-care framework, introduced in 2024.