Fake Tesco Casino Ads Expose UK Brand Impersonation Risk

The fake Tesco site called itself the official casino of the supermarket. It used references to Tesco stores and the retailer’s long trading history to make the proposition appear familiar. Yet the site had no British gambling licence. A recognised corporate identity therefore sat alongside a gambling offer that lacked the authorisation required to serve consumers in Great Britain.

Tesco referred its concerns to the National Cyber Security Centre and Report Fraud. City of London police confirmed receiving the complaint but said it had not been referred to a force for investigation at that point. The reported website remained accessible in the UK, making its claimed Tesco connection especially relevant to British consumers and regulators.

The Tesco example is part of a wider pattern of reported impersonation. Barclays branding appeared in promotional material featuring Lewis Hamilton, while adverts for Monzo slots used the bank’s imagery. Both companies rejected any connection to the promotions. Barclays said it had taken steps to protect customers against misleading use of its intellectual property.

Sports identities appeared in other material. A cryptocurrency casino used an apparent lookalike of Erling Haaland dressed in a Norway shirt as a croupier. That site claimed an Anjouan licence and was advertised through Meta, but was unavailable to UK users. Jude Bellingham and Bruno Fernandes were also named in earlier cases involving the unauthorised use of their images. An advert shown to UK users does not necessarily mean its linked gambling site accepts customers in Great Britain.

Licensed gambling businesses face similar exposure. Coral and Gala Bingo were among the brands reportedly copied by unauthorised casinos. Entain, their owner, criticised the impact on consumers and legitimate businesses.

Its UK and Ireland managing director Bejay Patel said:

Ofcom needs to take a harder line on the companies facilitating this activity.

Impersonated athletes are separate from formal sponsorship agreements, but both topics concern the visibility of gambling brands around sport. The UK consultation on unlicensed gambling sponsorship closed in September 2026. Its proposed restrictions address genuine commercial arrangements, rather than the fraudulent use of a person’s image.

The Gambling Commission has challenged Meta over adverts for unlicensed casinos on Facebook and Instagram. The Advertising Standards Authority is also aware of the wider problem of impersonation. In a January 2026 speech on illegal gambling advertising, executive director Tim Miller discussed promotions for sites claiming to be outside the GamStop self-exclusion scheme and questioned why the platform could not identify them earlier. That speech predates the Tesco case, so it provides context rather than a finding about the individual campaign.

The issue also appears in earlier coverage of the regulator’s concerns about Meta. The Commission can act against unlicensed websites targeting British consumers, while unauthorised use of intellectual property lies outside its direct remit. A single advert can therefore involve gambling law, trademark misuse and platform policies at the same time.

The UK Illegal Gambling Taskforce’s advertising work brings government, regulators and industry participants into that broader response. Its remit includes limiting online promotion of unlawful gambling, disrupting payments and improving cooperation between agencies. The Tesco case illustrates the operational difficulty. Taking down a social media advert can reduce its immediate reach, but identifying linked websites and replacement promotions may require continued monitoring across several channels.

For licensed companies, preserving screenshots, advert identifiers, account names and destination URLs can make reports more actionable. Coordinated review by legal, marketing and compliance teams can help determine whether the problem concerns a copied trademark, an unlicensed gambling offer or both. The priority is to identify the real operator and stop the false association from reaching more consumers.