The Gambling Commission has received nearly 20,000 complaints from people claiming they were cheated at the online casino. The National Consumer Helpline, which received the complaints, received them on the back of a warning that the Gambling Commission was sending to land-based and online casino operators to warn them against “a series of incidents of significant concerns” in their casinos. The “significant concerns” included people not paying off winnings, losing substantial sums of money and accounts being blocked without explanation. The warnings were sent to online casino operators based in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man and Gibraltar. They are all affiliated to gambling firm PartyGaming. The Commission’s warning said: “We are aware that there have been a significant number of complaints to our website from consumers in relation to a number of online casino operators associated with PartyGaming. “As a result of these complaints we have carried out our own investigations. These have revealed significant concerns. “This includes consumers experiencing substantial losses and not being paid; consumers losing more than one third of their deposits, sometimes on the same day, and being locked out of their account without notice or explanation. “We also have evidence of a significant number of accounts having been opened and used without the consumer’s knowledge.” The warning also warned against the online casino operators making excessive and repeated withdrawals, “which can also lead to consumers being locked out of their accounts, and therefore not being able to access their funds.” The National Consumer Helpline said online casino operators need to ensure the protection of consumers through “robust security procedures” to prevent unauthorised access to customer accounts. On Friday, the Gambling Commission released details of its investigation into a gambling company called 18Bet. The operator has also been hit with a warning. 18Bet was hit with sanctions for failing to ensure its systems were adequately secure. The Commission has also ordered 18Bet to take steps to prevent its consumers gambling when in the USA, as well as preventing it from allowing American bettors to gamble on online games that are not available to UK players. Online casino operators are being warned to make sure that both their websites and the software they use for games are safe and secure for consumers. The Gambling Commission also said it was aware that some online casinos use mobile phone applications to allow their users to play their games from their mobile phone, and said it “urgently needed” to understand the risks of their use. The Commission has confirmed that it is aware that online casinos have mobile-only applications that allow consumers to play their games from mobile phones. It is also asking the online casino operators in question to take steps to ensure that any future mobile applications they launch are fully regulated and comply with the UK gambling laws. The Commission said it will be launching an ongoing inquiry to address its concerns about the safety of online casino operators that run their business from outside the United Kingdom. Under the Commission’s regulatory oversight, online casinos are required to meet the highest standards of customer protection, as well as providing protection for people who are underage and preventing underage gambling. These regulations also include a maximum stake limit for online casino games. In practice, this means that no individual player can lose more than £50 (approximately $76,560). This is designed to ensure that gamblers do not become addicted to online casino games and keep the games away from children. PartyGaming has issued a statement to state that it is making “significant changes” to its management and board. The online casino operator said in a statement: “Following the recent reports, we have conducted an internal investigation into these matters. We are satisfied that all matters raised during the Commission’s investigation have been fully investigated and dealt with. We take this issue very seriously and it is our strong view that our product is safe and completely legal. “We remain committed to working with our regulators and government agencies to ensure that our online casino operation is safe and secure and we remain fully committed to upholding the highest standards of responsible gambling. “As part of our strategy to continue to secure our position in the UK market, we are announcing immediate changes to our leadership structure, board and management team. These changes are designed to enhance the operational and strategic focus of our online casino offering, with additional safeguards built-in to ensure we have robust procedures in place to protect consumers. “We will not be commenting further on the details of the investigation at this stage, but I would like to reiterate that we take this issue very seriously and will continue to work closely with our regulators to ensure that all necessary steps are taken.” The UKGC said online casinos must provide a safe and fun environment for players and “protect their customers against harm”. It added: “Parties running online casinos must provide a safe and fair environment for customers, who are protected against harm and helped to have fun. This includes players being treated fairly. We will not hesitate to take action where we find operators are not living up to the promises they make to customers.”