Fake Crown and Star Casino Apps Target Australian Gamblers

Australian players are being warned about sophisticated online casino promotions that imitate some of the country's most recognisable gambling brands.

An investigation has uncovered a large-scale operation using names including Crown Melbourne, The Star Sydney, The Lott and Mindil Beach Casino Resort to promote offshore online gambling services to Australians.

The advertisements have appeared on Facebook and Instagram and are designed to give users the impression they are dealing with legitimate Australian gambling companies.

However, clicking the advertisements can take users to fake pages designed to resemble the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Instead of downloading an official application, users may install a progressive web app that directs them to an offshore casino.

How the Fake Casino Apps Work

Progressive web apps, often referred to as PWAs, are websites that can behave much like applications installed on a smartphone.

In this case, the technology reportedly allows illegal casino operators to place an app-like shortcut on a user's device without distributing a conventional application through an official app store.

The fake download pages are particularly concerning because they use familiar Australian casino and lottery branding. A player seeing the Crown or The Star name may therefore assume the gambling service is connected to the genuine company.

Neither Crown Melbourne nor The Star Sydney operates an online casino offering casino games to Australian players.

More Than 1,000 Affiliates Reportedly Involved

The operation appears to have been considerably larger than a handful of misleading advertisements.

Researchers described a three-tier system involving an advertising toolkit, more than 1,000 affiliates promoting the casinos and offshore gambling operators paying commissions for referred customers.

The advertising system reportedly used a technique known as cloaking to avoid automated advertising checks.

A platform reviewing the destination of an advertisement could be shown a harmless or blank page, while an Australian consumer clicking the same advertisement would instead see the fake app-store page and gambling promotion.

The toolkit associated with the operation has since announced that it is shutting down, saying some customers had abused its services.

Australian Gambling Sites Continue to Be Blocked

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has been taking increasingly aggressive action against illegal online gambling services.

Website blocking has become one of ACMA's main enforcement tools. Internet service providers can be asked to prevent Australians from accessing sites found to be operating in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.

The regulator has now blocked well over 1,500 illegal gambling and affiliate websites since it began using website blocking measures in November 2019.

Players Should Check Who They Are Gambling With

The use of genuine casino brands makes this latest scheme particularly difficult for consumers to identify.

A familiar logo, Australian casino name or professional-looking app page does not necessarily mean an online gambling service is legitimate.

Australian players should be especially cautious when casino offers appear through social media advertisements or claim to provide online versions of famous land-based Australian casinos - ACMA spokesperson.

ACMA maintains a register that consumers can use to check whether an interactive gambling provider is legally permitted to operate in Australia.