Church website hijacked and used to promote online casino

A UK church has regained control of its website after it was hijacked by cybersquatters and turned into a gateway for online gambling. The case involved cloned content, misleading links and reputational damage. This shows the ongoing risks around domain abuse and brand impersonation. A recent ruling has now ordered the domain to be transferred back to its rightful owner.

Cloned site used to funnel users to casinos

Chichester Baptist Church was targeted by hackers who registered a similar domain and replicated an older version of the church’s website. The cloned platform remained active for around three years, during which it was used to redirect visitors to commercial gambling services.

Users clicking through the site were led to so-called “PayPal casinos.” They then landed on betting platforms. The use of identical branding, imagery and messaging created confusion among visitors, particularly members of the church community.

Legal documents confirmed that the site was deliberately designed to mislead. By mirroring the church’s identity, the operators were able to funnel traffic towards gambling content under false pretences.

Dispute escalated with offensive content

The situation worsened after the church attempted to reclaim the domain through formal channels. In response, the operators replaced the gambling content with a mock version of the church’s website.

“As a Baptist Church, the Complainant’s values are fundamentally opposed to gambling. The Respondent’s use of the Complainant’s name and its specific (albeit older) website content to funnel traffic to betting sites caused severe reputational damage” – the court ruling.

They manipulated imagery depicting church leaders in inappropriate and semi-naked scenarios. The images are understood to have been generated using AI. This shows how complicated the nature of the abuse was.

The ruling described these actions as retaliatory. It noted that they caused additional reputational harm. The presence of official church contact details on the site added to the confusion and potential damage.

Nominet ruling orders domain transfer

The case was ultimately reviewed by Nominet, the organisation responsible for managing UK domain names. Following the investigation, it was determined that the domain had been registered and used in bad faith.

The ruling stated that the website had taken unfair advantage of the church’s established identity and had been used to promote services that directly conflicted with its values.

As a result, the domain has now been transferred back to Chichester Baptist Church. The decision reinforces the protections available to organisations facing cybersquatting and impersonation.

The case also gives weight to concerns around online safety. This is particularly important where trusted institutions are exploited to promote gambling or other commercial services.