Tesco reports fake casino endorsement ads to police

Tesco has reported fake online casino advertisements using its brand to City of London Police, highlighting a broader problem with unlicensed gambling promotions that impersonate well-known companies and public figures.

The advertisements appeared on Facebook and Instagram and falsely suggested that Tesco was connected to online casino offers. According to reporting by The Guardian, the same wider scam ecosystem has also misused the names or images of banks, sports stars and other celebrities.

Why fake casino endorsements matter

A familiar brand can make an advertisement appear more credible than it is. That is particularly risky when the destination is an online gambling site that may not hold the licence required to target players in the country where the advert is shown.

Players should therefore treat the brand shown in an advert and the gambling operator behind the link as two separate things. A supermarket, bank, footballer or celebrity appearing in an image is not evidence that they have approved the casino.

For UK-facing gambling, the key check is whether the operator and relevant domain can be verified against the Gambling Commission's public register. We have previously covered the regulatory direction in the UK in our article about the consultation on sponsorship by unlicensed gambling operators.

Tesco referred the matter to police

Tesco said it had no connection to the casino promotions and reported the misuse to City of London Police. Meta removed several of the advertisements after they were raised by journalists, while stating that advertisers are responsible for complying with applicable rules.

The episode illustrates how quickly fraudulent advertising can borrow trust from an established brand. It also shows why users should verify the actual operator rather than relying on logos, countdown timers, celebrity photographs or claims of a limited-time bonus.

How to check a suspicious casino advert

Before creating an account or depositing money, users can perform several basic checks:

• identify the legal company operating the gambling site;
• check the exact website domain rather than only the brand name;
• verify the operator against the relevant regulator's register;
• be cautious when a promotion relies heavily on a celebrity or household brand endorsement;
• avoid assuming that a licence mentioned in an advert automatically permits the operator to target every market;
• keep screenshots and the destination URL if an advert appears fraudulent.

The regulatory environment is also changing. The UK Gambling Commission has continued to emphasise action against illegal gambling and misleading promotion. Leadership at the regulator is changing as well, with Ruth Evans due to become chair on 30 September; see our background on the appointment.

Unlicensed does not mean merely unfamiliar

A casino can look polished, accept familiar payment methods and display licence-related wording while still lacking authorisation for a specific jurisdiction. That distinction is important. The relevant question is not simply whether the site claims to be licensed somewhere, but whether it is permitted to offer gambling to the user in the market being targeted.

Fake endorsements add another layer of risk because they are designed to shortcut that verification process. The safest response is to ignore the apparent endorsement and verify the gambling operator independently.

Source: The Guardian, 13 September 2026.