Scottish council removes links redirecting users to offshore casinos

Scottish Borders Council has removed 16 outdated website links after a BBC Scotland investigation found that they were sending users to offshore casino portals rather than community council pages.

The affected URLs appeared within the local authority’s directory of 69 community councils. The council acted after the broadcaster raised the problem and subsequently asked community groups to review their online details.

The council website had not been taken over. Outdated directory links were sending users to domains that had changed hands. Most of the affected addresses had originally been connected to a hosting service that closed several years ago.

Fifteen links traced to defunct Online Borders service

The BBC found that 15 of the 16 affected websites had previously been built and hosted through Online Borders, a former third-sector directory.

Community council sources said the service stopped working around eight years ago. The groups were instructed to establish new websites. However, the old addresses remained in the council’s directory.

The Online Borders domain was later acquired and the legacy links began funnelling visitors to a portal promoting “top noGamstop casinos”.

The remaining link belonged to Chirnside Community Council and had not been hosted through Online Borders. Its address had been taken over separately and redirected users to an Indonesian-language gambling website.

Dr Daniel Thomas, a cyber security expert at the University of Strathclyde, described the practice as “domain squatting”. Purchasing an expired domain is not itself unlawful, but its existing reputation and links from trusted organisations can give new content greater visibility and apparent credibility.

"When someone is looking for the community council and are met with this gambling portal they will think something is wrong and of course not engage with the site. But when someone is searching for these sites, the now re-directed community council site will be at the top of list, as it appears a local group is giving out suggestions on the best offshore gambling sites to use." - Dr Daniel Thomas

The council website had not been taken over. Outdated directory links were sending users to domains that had changed hands.

Offshore operators sit outside British safeguards

The BBC reported that the promoted casinos operated outside British jurisdiction. It's important because every online gambling company licensed in Great Britain must participate in GAMSTOP, the national multi-operator self-exclusion scheme.

British-licensed operators have also been prohibited from accepting credit card gambling payments since April 2020. Offshore websites targeting British consumers without a Gambling Commission licence can avoid safeguards that licensed businesses are required to provide. The redirects went beyond a routine broken-link issue. They used the implied authority of a council listing to direct visitors towards gambling businesses that did not offer the protections expected under British regulation.

Council removes links and requests updates

Scottish Borders Council removed the 16 links after being contacted by the BBC. It also circulated a memo asking community councils to ensure their website information was current, although it did not provide a comment to the broadcaster.

A similar incident affected Old Catton Parish Council in Norfolk in June. This time website displayed Indonesian-language material promoting an online slots operator. The parish council removed the content and reviewed its security arrangements.

The Scottish Borders case shows how abandoned domains and neglected directories can create an indirect route for offshore gambling promotion. Regular link checks are increasingly important to prevent unlicensed operators from borrowing the credibility of councils and other public bodies.