Tesco has issued an urgent warning after discovering fraudsters stole its brand identity to promote a bogus online casino.
The supermarket giant is the most recent in a growing list of well-known British companies and sporting figures whose images have been exploited by unlicensed gambling operators seeking to trade on their reputations.
Adverts and websites distributed through social media platforms created the misleading impression that these businesses had entered the casino market.
A fraudulent “Tesco casino” page existed on Facebook until the issue was raised with Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp.
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The supermarket flagged the issue with the National Cyber Security Centre and the Report Fraud service operated by City of London police.
A police spokesperson confirmed the complaint had been received but said it had not yet been passed to a force for investigation, reports The Guardian.
The website linked to the advertisements remains accessible to UK users and describes itself as “the official Tesco casino.”
It claims its slot machines are “laid out as clearly as the aisles at a Tesco Extra” and states the casino is “built on the trust of Tesco, a FTSE 100 company with 107 years of UK trading history since 1919.”
Despite these assertions, the site holds no licence to offer gambling services in Great Britain, a legal prerequisite for any operator in the market.
GB News understands Tesco is aware of the website and has contacted City of London Police.
Both the Gambling Commission and the Advertising Standards Authority have been monitoring the wider issue of fake endorsement adverts, though neither body appears to have made significant headway in stemming the tide of such fraudulent promotions.
Barclays has also had its branding misappropriated, with promotional material for “Barclays Slots” featuring Sir Lewis Hamilton’s face.
One such Facebook advert, since removed, showed an apparently AI-generated woman in a suggestive scenario before revealing a Barclays casino game on her phone.
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The bank said it “does not endorse or have any involvement” with the content and had taken steps to safeguard customers from the misuse of its intellectual property.
Online bank Monzo similarly had its imagery exploited for fake slot machine adverts. Monzo described it as an “AI-enabled scam where criminals take advantage of our much-loved brand to trick people.”
Boxer Tyson Fury posted a video to Instagram distancing himself from a casino bearing his name, saying he had refused “millions” from gambling firms.
Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Bruno Fernandes have likewise had their likenesses used without permission by rogue operators.
Legitimate betting brands Coral and Gala Bingo have been impersonated too.
Bejay Patel, managing director of UK and Ireland at their parent company Entain, said any casino posing as a licensed operator was “exploiting British consumers and legitimate businesses alike and paying no taxes, while some of the world’s largest technology platforms continue to profit from hosting their adverts.”
He called on Ofcom to crack down harder on the companies enabling such activity.
The Gambling Commission has previously taken Meta to task over its failure to tackle unlicensed casinos proliferating on its platforms.
The regulator described the hijacking of trusted brands to funnel consumers towards illegal casino products as “a particularly cynical version” of gambling-related criminality.
Meta stated it had removed the offending adverts following inquiries.
However, the company is understood to take the position that responsibility for adhering to local regulations lies with advertisers rather than with the platforms themselves.
A number of the fraudulent casino sites examined claim to hold licences from Curaçao, a Caribbean territory with a reputation as a refuge for online gambling businesses lacking authorisation in major markets such as Britain and the United States.
Any such operators serving British customers are doing so unlawfully.
The contact page on both the fake Tesco casino and the Tyson Fury-branded site lead to a blank webpage displaying only the phrase: “Silence is golden.”
Representatives of Mr Haaland and Sir Lewis have been approached for comment.
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