Investigation

Affiliate Fraud Intelligence

The casino affiliate industry is built on a fundamental conflict of interest. Review sites earn $200–500 every time you sign up through their links. This investigation documents how the system works, who profits, and the real cases where regulators have taken action.

The Numbers

99%

Of casino reviews lean positive due to affiliate incentives

12–15%

Of operator marketing budgets lost to fraudulent affiliate traffic

17%

Of CPA applications show signs of manipulation or misrepresentation

$442M

In gambling industry fines issued globally in 2023 alone

How The Scheme Works

Casino Pays The Site

Review sites sign affiliate agreements. They earn $200–500 CPA (cost per acquisition) for every depositing player through their link. Some deals include 25–45% lifetime revenue share — meaning the site earns a cut of everything you lose, forever.

Site Ranks Casino High

"Top 10 Best Casinos 2026!" — these lists are ordered by commission rates, not quality. The highest CPA gets position #1. Rankings shift when casinos adjust their affiliate payouts, not when their service improves.

You Lose Money

You end up at a casino promoted for profit, not quality. Withdrawal delays, locked bonuses, predatory wagering requirements, and vanishing customer support follow. The review site already got paid — they have no incentive to care.

Types Of Affiliate Fraud

Type 01

Biased Rankings & Pay-to-Play Reviews

The most widespread form of affiliate fraud — and the one most players never notice. Research shows that virtually all casino reviews skew positive because of affiliate marketing incentives. Sites that earn commissions from casinos have a direct financial incentive to rate those casinos highly, regardless of actual quality. Every "exclusive bonus" link is a tracking mechanism that pays the reviewer when you sign up.

MOST COMMON

Red Flags On Review Sites

! "Visit Casino" buttons with tracking parameters (?btag=, ?stag=, ?clickid=) in the URL

! Every reviewed casino magically gets 4+ stars — no genuinely negative reviews exist

! "Exclusive bonus" offers that are really just affiliate tracking mechanisms

! No disclosure of affiliate relationships or commissions received

! Rankings that silently change when casinos adjust their commission rates

! "Top 10" lists where every single entry has a signup button

! Reviews written by the same site that collects commission from signups

The Commission Structure

CPA (Cost Per Acquisition)

$200–500+ one-time payment per depositing player. The site gets paid whether you win or lose. Higher CPAs are offered by casinos with worse odds or more predatory terms — they can afford to pay more to acquire players because they extract more from them.

Revenue Share (Rev Share)

25–45% of net revenue generated by the referred player — for life. This means the review site literally profits from your losses. The more you lose, the more they earn. This creates a perverse incentive to recommend casinos where players lose the most.

Hybrid Deals

Combination of upfront CPA + ongoing revenue share. The most lucrative affiliate deals can generate six or seven figures annually for large review sites. Some affiliate networks report top partners earning $500K–$2M+ monthly.

Type 02

Cookie Stuffing & Attribution Hijacking

A technical fraud where affiliates secretly plant tracking cookies on your browser without you clicking any affiliate link. When you later visit a casino naturally, the fraudulent affiliate gets credit (and commission) for "referring" you — even though they had nothing to do with your visit. Research found cookie stuffing accounted for 62% of all affiliate fraud detected in 2018.

CRIMINAL OFFENSE

How It Works

01 Affiliate embeds invisible elements (1x1 pixel images, hidden iframes) on their website

02 These elements silently load from the casino's server, setting an affiliate tracking cookie

03 You never clicked anything — you don't even know it happened

04 Days or weeks later, you visit the casino on your own and sign up

05 The affiliate gets full commission credit for "referring" you

06 More sophisticated versions use browser extensions, redirect chains, or ad networks

Landmark Case: eBay / Shawn Hogan

$35 Million Cookie Stuffing Scheme (2003–2007)

Shawn Hogan, eBay's #1 affiliate, and Brian Dunning (#2) collected $28M and $7M respectively by planting tracking cookies via embedded widgets. Hogan's widget stuffed 650,000+ eBay cookies. eBay found that over 99% of their "referred" traffic was fake.

Hogan used sophisticated evasion: limiting cookie stuffing to once per user to appear natural, using reverse IP geotargeting to avoid planting cookies on computers near eBay's headquarters or their affiliate network's offices. The FBI's Cyber Crimes Division investigated.

Both pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Hogan received 5 months in federal prison and a $25,000 fine. Dunning received 15 months. The case established cookie stuffing as a federal criminal offense — the transmission of cookies between states constituted wire fraud.

Sources: FBI Cyber Crimes Division, US District Court filings, Wikipedia, MarTech

Type 03

Fake Traffic, Bot Signups & Self-Referrals

Affiliates use bots to generate fake registrations, create accounts themselves using multiple identities to claim CPA bounties, or drive worthless traffic from click farms. Some affiliates create dozens of "player" accounts using stolen identities, deposit the minimum to trigger commission, then withdraw. The operator pays commission for users who never genuinely play.

HIGH IMPACT

Bot-Generated Signups

Automated account creation at scale

Bots complete minimum deposits to trigger CPA

Accounts churn immediately after commission is paid

Operators lose acquisition budget with zero LTV

Self-Referral Schemes

Affiliate creates accounts using stolen/fake identities

Deposits and plays through own referral links

Collects both gambling winnings and affiliate commission

Often combined with bonus abuse for maximum extraction

Brand Hijacking

Running paid ads on operator's own brand keywords

Outbidding the casino on its own name in search

Stealing organic traffic that would have come directly

Raising the operator's cost-per-click on their own brand

Type 04

Rogue Operators Defrauding Affiliates

Fraud flows both directions. Rogue casino operators stiff their affiliates by retroactively changing commission terms, refusing to pay earned commissions, or shutting down affiliate programs after building traffic. When a casino stops paying affiliates, it's a leading indicator they'll stop paying players too.

BOTH DIRECTIONS

Known Tactics By Rogue Operators

→ Retroactively changing T&Cs to eliminate revenue share obligations on existing players

→ Switching from rev-share to CPA-only after affiliates have built up player bases

→ Implementing "negative carryover" — deducting player wins from affiliate earnings

→ Adding predatory clauses like the "30-day rule" to void player withdrawals and affiliate commissions

→ Simply refusing to pay and going silent, knowing affiliates have limited legal recourse

→ Operating under shell companies and rebranding when reputation is destroyed

Documented Cases

Bwin Revenue Share Cuts

Retroactively slashed affiliate commissions they were contractually obligated to pay, saving hundreds of thousands in ongoing payments at the cost of industry trust.

Virtual Casino Group (VCG)

Operates ~12 casinos with near-impossible withdrawal terms. Players and affiliates both report non-payment and vanishing support after payout requests.

Netad / AffAlliance Group

Used the "30-day rule" buried in T&Cs to void player withdrawals. Locked accounts for 60-day "security checks," then denied payment citing the rule. Operated multiple rebranded casino groups.

Regulatory Crackdown

Regulators worldwide are tightening their grip on affiliate marketing in gambling. Operators are increasingly being held responsible for what their affiliates do — and the penalties are getting severe.

United Kingdom

BGO Entertainment — £300,000 Fine (2017)

First-ever UK Gambling Commission financial penalty for affiliate advertising failures. Established the precedent that operators cannot claim ignorance of affiliate behavior.

Lindar Media — Forced Divestment (2023)

UKGC settlement required divestment and payment in lieu of financial penalty. One of the few enforcement actions directly targeting an affiliate company.

William Hill Group — £19.2 Million Fine (2023)

Largest UK industry fine to date. Failings included AML, social responsibility, and marketing oversight across three business units. Commission considered license suspension.

New Law (2025): Operator Liability

A new UK law makes operators legally liable for fraud committed by any affiliate partner. Operators can no longer outsource marketing and disclaim responsibility.

Europe

Sweden — ComeOn Group Brands — SEK 100M+ (2021)

Swedish authorities fined a group of brands over SEK 100 million for bonus rule violations driven by affiliate campaigns. Regulators stated that operators are accountable whether promotions come from affiliates or directly.

Malta — Goldwin License Revoked (2024–25)

MGA suspended Goldwin's license in September 2024 for multiple compliance failures including marketing oversight. License permanently revoked March 2025. Previously fined €6.8M by the Netherlands for letting Dutch residents gamble without a valid license.

Malta — MGA Affiliate Scrutiny (Ongoing)

The MGA now includes affiliate management review as part of standard compliance audits. Poor affiliate oversight can result in license suspension or revocation.

US States — Affiliate Registration Requirements

New Jersey requires affiliates on revenue share to register as gaming vendors with background checks. Multiple states are implementing similar frameworks as the regulated US market expands.

How We Are Different

Typical Review Sites

✕ Earn $200–500+ per signup through affiliate links

✕ Revenue share means they profit from your losses

✕ Rankings ordered by commission rates, not casino quality

✕ Every casino gets 4+ stars because negative reviews lose money

✕ "Exclusive bonuses" are tracking mechanisms, not special deals

✕ No disclosure of financial relationships with casinos

✕ Same site writes the review and collects the commission

GAMBLE.CC

✓ Zero affiliate links — we accept $0 from casinos

✓ No revenue share — we don't profit from your losses

✓ Trust scores based on aggregated data, not payment amounts

✓ Reviews sourced from independent platforms, not written in-house

✓ Ad-funded only — display advertising pays our bills

✓ Open about our methodology and data sources

✓ No financial relationship with any casino operator

Protect Yourself

Check The URL

Before clicking any "Visit Casino" button, hover over it. If you see parameters like ?btag=, ?stag=, ?clickid=, ?affid= — that's an affiliate tracking link. The site earns money when you click.

Look For Negative Reviews

If a site rates every single casino 4+ stars, it's compromised. Legitimate reviewers have casinos they genuinely dislike. No negative reviews = no editorial independence.

Check Disclosure

Legitimate sites disclose affiliate relationships. Look for an "Advertising Disclosure" page. If it doesn't exist, or is vague, assume every recommendation is paid.

Cross-Reference Sources

Don't trust a single review site. Check CasinoGuru, AskGamblers, Trustpilot, Reddit, and BitcoinTalk forums. If one site loves a casino that players hate everywhere else — it's affiliate money talking.

Verify Licensing Directly

Don't trust a review site's claim that a casino is "licensed and regulated." Check the regulator's website directly — MGA, UKGC, and Curaçao all publish licensee registries.

Use Ad Blockers

Browser extensions can help identify and block affiliate tracking cookies. This won't stop biased reviews, but it reduces the financial incentive for sites to manipulate you.

Report Fraud

Know of a review site running undisclosed affiliate schemes? Have evidence of cookie stuffing, brand hijacking, or fake traffic operations? Contact us with documentation — payment screenshots, affiliate dashboard exports, email threads, tracking URL evidence. We aggregate reports from AffiliateGuardDog, GPWA, AffiliateBoycott, and verified direct complaints.

Sources & Legal Notice

Statistics and cases cited from: SEON iGaming Fraud Prevention Report, Sumsub 2024 iGaming Fraud Report, Bluepear affiliate fraud analysis, Markets Herald casino review investigation, Association of Certified Gaming Compliance Specialists (ACGCS), UK Gambling Commission enforcement register, Malta Gaming Authority enforcement register, FBI Cyber Crimes Division court filings (USA v. Hogan, USA v. Dunning), Swedish Gambling Authority enforcement actions, Gambling Industry News fines tracker, and LCB/CasinoListings casino warnings databases. All information sourced from public records, regulatory filings, and published industry research.