Online game platform Roblox being used by illegal casinos to lure children into gambling 

A Sky News investigation found that, while the unlicensed casinos are not published on Roblox, children are able to sign up to these sites using their sign-in credentials for the video game and bet with the currency they win on the game.

The winnings can be withdrawn as cryptocurrency and then turned into actual cash.

The UK’s Gambling Commission has began an investigation into these casinos and blocked them from that jurisdiction. Recently passed legislation in the Oireachtas has given powers to Ireland’s first regulator in the gambling sector here.

“Criminals will always try and find new ways to exploit people, including children,” the UK regulator’s chief executive Andrew Rhodes told Sky News.

Inside the game, players can use currency called “Robux” to purchase items in the game like clothes. This currency can be bought for real money.

On these casino sites, a person can use their Roblox log-in with some then asking users to tick a box to say they are over 18 or enter a date of birth.

They can then transfer this “Robux” currency to the gambling account and buy virtual gambling chips to bet on the website.

Data from one of these casinos, called Bloxmoon, showed users had lost the equivalent of €10.8m since it launched in late 2022. One US user of the game said he gambled around €150,000 on these sites having started using them at the age of 14.

“My mother tried to get me to stop, but I didn’t,” he told Sky News. “I just liked the adrenaline of doing bigger and bigger bets.

I just thought it was something you could do to make extra money. I didn’t even know what gambling was.

Another one of the casinos, Bloxflip, said it was permanently shutting down less than two days after it was presented with the findings of the investigation.

A spokesperson for Roblox said casinos are “in no way endorsed or authorised by Roblox” and that the company has taken “numerous steps to disrupt their activity, which violates our Terms of Use”.

“Our efforts have met with some success, but we would welcome further law enforcement action and vigilance from web hosting providers to shut down sites like this.”