Illegal casinos are using Roblox to draw children into online gambling
Illegal online casinos are using Roblox, one of the most popular video games in the world, to draw children as young as 12 into online gambling, a Sky News investigation has found.
Warning: This article contains a mention of suicide.
The unlicensed casinos allow children of any age to sign up using their Roblox accounts and bet their in-game currency (Robux) on games like slots and blackjack.
Winnings can be withdrawn as cryptocurrency – and then converted into real cash.
Roblox is one of the most popular video games in the world, with an estimated 80 million daily active users. Described by its CEO as a “digital playground,” Roblox is particularly popular with children – 42% of its users are thought to be aged 12 or under.
Sky News spoke to one teenage Roblox user in the US who says he gambled around 15 million Robux (£150,000). He started using the sites aged just 14 – seven years below the legal age for gambling in his state.
Robert, 16, says he started gambling on the websites aged 14, and has bet around 15 million Robux (£150,000)
“My mother tried to get me to stop, but I didn’t,” says Robert*. “I just liked the adrenaline of doing bigger and bigger bets.”
He had no idea, he says, that he was committing a criminal offence.
“I just thought it was something you could do to make extra money,” he says. “I didn’t even know what gambling was.”
Sky News’ investigation focused on three of the largest Robux casinos – BloxFlip, Bloxmoon and RBLXWild. Altogether, the sites receive around 2.8 million visitors each month and facilitate millions of pounds worth of bets.
In response to Sky News’ findings, the Gambling Commission has launched an urgent investigation into the Robux casinos and has blocked them from the UK.
“Criminals will always try and find new ways to exploit people, including children,” the regulator’s chief executive Andrew Rhodes told Sky News.
Sky News was able to access data from one of these casinos, Bloxmoon, showing that users have lost a total of $11.4m (£8.9m) on the website since it launched in late 2022.
The data includes bets placed on RBLXWild since July 2024, when this website was purchased by Bloxmoon.
Between April and October 2024 alone, users placed bets worth $22.3m. The casinos’ owners paid out only $20.1m as winnings, keeping the remaining $2.2m as revenues. That’s an average revenue of $10,281 (£8,149) per day.
Other casinos may be making even more money. Of the eight casinos identified by Sky News, the most popular is BloxFlip, which receives an average of 2.7 million visitors every month according to website analytics company SimilarWeb.
BloxFlip announced it was permanently shutting down less than 36 hours after Sky News presented its findings to the casino and to Roblox.
“The legal team representing Roblox has begun to apply pressure compelling us to close our platform,” a co-owner of BloxFlip wrote in the casino’s official chatroom.
“No more luring minors in and giving them addictions early,” responded one user, who had bet more than 10 million Robux (£100,000) on the site.
A spokesperson for Roblox told Sky News that the 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”.
“We have a dedicated group focused on identifying potentially fraudulent activity on Roblox and we work collaboratively with law enforcement authorities where possible to pursue the owners of such websites,” the spokesperson said.
“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.”
Bloxmoon users have lost a total of $11.4 million (£8.9 million) on the website since it launched in late 2022
Unlicensed casinos have ‘no safeguards’
Robert says he started gambling on BloxFlip after seeing an advertisement on social media.
“At first I deposited around 100 Robux (£1) – just something small to try it out,” he says.
“I lost it all. Then I deposited more to try to make up for it, which I lost again. Then I deposited more.”
Soon, he was gambling with his friends every night.
One time, Robert says, a friend threatened to kill himself after losing 20,000 Robux (£200) on a single roulette spin. It wasn’t clear if he was serious, but the group didn’t want to get adults involved for fear of revealing their gambling habits.
“We just tried to calm him down ourselves,” Robert recalls.
Dr Jane Rigbye, chief executive of underage gambling charity YGAM, says that unlicensed casinos have no safeguards in place. This means they are “potentially much more dangerous, both financially and psychologically,” than regulated casinos.
“If children are exposed to gambling at an earlier age, they’re more likely to experience difficulties with gambling later in life,” she adds.
‘Nobody cared’
Robert has no doubt that the websites’ staff know many of their users are underage, based on conversations in the group’s official chatroom on the social media platform Discord.
“There’d be people [in the Discord group] talking about their age in casual conversations with the moderators, the developers of the site,” he says. “They didn’t care. Nobody cared.”
In the BloxFlip Discord users who have wagered at least a million Robux (£10,000) can apply for “Whale” status, giving them a special whale emoji next to their username. Users who have wagered at least 10 million Robux (£100,000) can apply for “Platinum Whale” status.
At least four Whales and two Platinum Whales have openly admitted to being underage in the Discord group.
“I was here since 12 [years old] lol I’m 14 now,” wrote one user, whose screenshots show that he has bet at least 1.1 million Robux (£11,000) on the site.
Another user who is shown to have wagered at least 17.5 million Robux (£175,000), says he turned 16 in November.
He added: “Is it even [worse] that I’m an underage gambler and I have plat whale?!?!?!”
A staff member with the title “head of community” even acknowledged that one “Whale” was underage. After the user stated his height, the staff member said: “you are 14 right you probably got a bit to grow still.”
The user’s screenshots show he has bet more than 5.2 million Robux (£52,000) on the site.
Roblox is being sued over the websites
Roblox is now fighting a class action lawsuit in the US by the parents of five children who used these casinos.
The lawsuit, originally filed in August 2023, was given permission to proceed in September 2024 after a judge ruled that Roblox had to answer the parents’ accusations of negligence.
“They knew for years it was happening, and they didn’t do anything,” says James Bilsborrow, the lawyer leading the case against Roblox.
“Roblox has created a digital playground for children – that’s the purpose of their platform,” he says. “They have a duty to these kids, a duty to keep them safe.”
Court filings show that Roblox has been aware of BloxFlip and RBLXWild since at least April 2022, when it contacted their hosting providers asking that the sites be shut down.
It was only in October 2024, however, that Roblox initiated legal proceedings against the websites – accusing them of copyright infringement and breaking its terms of use.
Roblox denies all wrongdoing and says it “employs multiple methods to detect and disrupt bot accounts” connected with the gambling websites.
The parents suing Roblox are also taking legal action against the gambling websites, but so far none of the websites’ owners have responded to the lawsuit.
One of BloxFlip’s owners told the website’s users on their chatroom that “many companies get sued” and that it is “part of doing business”.
Taking the websites down
The Bloxmoon website only went offline on 26 November, after Sky News alerted the Gambling Commission which then sent its own takedown request to the website’s hosting provider.
Dozens of users flooded Bloxmoon’s official chatroom, with one asking if the site had been “taken down by the federal government”.
Within 36 hours, however, the website re-emerged at a slightly different web address. RBLXWild was later also taken down only to re-appear at another new address.
The websites continued to receive thousands of dollars worth of bets until 2 December, when users again began complaining that the site was blocked in certain countries, including the UK.
One of the website’s staff told users in the official chatroom that they could get around the block by using free software that masks a computer’s location.
“If you are unable to access the website please use [the software], certain regions could be blocked at this time,” one of the website’s staff said in the official chatroom. “We are handling the situation.”
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who leads a parliamentary group on gambling-related harms, says that the casinos will continue to pose a risk as long as the owners are able to escape accountability.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith told Sky News regulators need to have greater powers to track down and punish illegal casino owners
“What you have to do is take them out of the game, so they can’t just move domains,” says Sir Iain. “There needs to be greater powers to seek these people out, arrest them and put them inside.”
Chief executive of the Gambling Commission, Andrew Rhodes, says the regulator is working to identify the casinos’ real owners.
“At the end of the day, illegal casino operators are criminals,” he says.
“They’re supported by criminal gangs and are part of the criminal underworld. It’s important all of us play our part in trying to frustrate them.”
That includes parents, who Mr Rhodes says need to be “vigilant” to what their children are doing online. But platforms like Roblox also need to safeguard the people using their services, he added.
“They have to remember that criminals are always trying to find ways to exploit children and others and be alive to that risk.”
Andrew Rhodes, chief executive of the Gambling Commission
‘The adrenaline kept him going’
Robert says he quit after realising that gambling had become an obsession.
“I just wasn’t getting the same feeling when I did other things, compared to when I was gambling at home on a Roblox casino,” he says.
He now regrets getting his friends involved, especially one for whom gambling is against their religion.
“He knew he shouldn’t be doing it, but the adrenaline kept [him] going,” Robert remembers. “Then he lost it all in one night, unfortunately.”
While he’s done with Roblox gambling for good, he does see himself gambling at a legal casino in the future.
Would he have said that if he’d never gambled with Robux?
He pauses to think. “Probably not.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
Anyone concerned about their gambling, or that of a loved one, can visit BeGambleAware.org for free, confidential advice and support, or The National Gambling Helpline is available on 0808 8020 133 and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
*Not his real name
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
US
US won’t ‘stand by and watch sanctioned vessels’, warns White House after tanker seized off Venezuela
The US will not “stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas”, the White House has warned, after American forces seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters she would not speak about future ship seizures, but said the US would continue to follow Donald Trump‘s sanction policies.
“We’re not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narcoterrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world,” she said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt briefing the media. Pic: Reuters
The US is gearing up to intercept more ships, six sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
One source said several more sanctioned tankers had been identified by the US for potential seizure.
Two of the people said the US Justice Department and Homeland Security had been planning the seizures for months.
American forces were monitoring vessels in Venezuelan ports and waiting for them to sail into international waters before taking action, one source added.
It comes after a crude oil tanker, named Skipper, on Wednesday was stormed by US forces executing a seizure warrant.
The ship left Venezuela’s main oil port of Jose between 4 and 5 December after loading about 1.1 million barrels of oil, according to satellite information analysed by TankerTrackers.com and internal shipping data from Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.
A still from a video of US forces seizing a Venezuelan oil tanker, posted by Pam Bondi. Pic: X/@AGPamBondi
The real reason for Donald Trump’s Venezuela exploits
Donald Trump wants you to know that there is one leading reason why he is bearing down militarily on Venezuela: drugs.
It is, he has said repeatedly, that country’s part in the production and smuggling of illegal narcotics into America that lies behind the ratcheting up of forces in the Caribbean in recent weeks. But what if there’s something else going on here too? What if this is really all about oil?
In one respect this is clearly preposterous. After all, the United States is, by a country mile, the world’s biggest oil producer. Venezuela is a comparative minnow these days, the 21st biggest producer in the world, its output having been depressed under the Chavez and then Maduro regimes. Why should America care about Venezuelan oil?
For the answer, one needs to spend a moment – strange as this will sound – contemplating the chemistry of oil…
US attorney general Pam Bondi said on X, formerly Twitter, that the ship was “used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran”.
“For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations,” she added.
Ms Leavitt said that “the United States does intend to get the oil” that was onboard the vessel.
The government in Caracas, led by President Nicolas Maduro, branded the ship’s seizure a “blatant theft” and an “act of international piracy”.
Read more:
Analysis: Is this what the beginning of a war looks like?
US-Venezuela crisis explained
Why tanker seized by US was ‘spoofing’ its location
The US has been ramping up the pressure on Mr Maduro and is reportedly considering trying to oust him. It has piled on sanctions, carried out a military build-up in the southern Caribbean, and launched attacks on suspected drug vessels from Venezuela.
Now America has issued new sanctions targeting Franqui Flores, Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, and Carlos Erik Malpica Flores – three nephews of Mr Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores – as well as on six crude oil tankers and six shipping companies linked to them.
Skipper. Credit: TankerTrackers
By seizing oil tankers, the US is threatening Mr Maduro’s government’s main revenue source – oil exports.
The sources said the US was focusing on what’s been called the shadow fleet – tankers transporting sanctioned oil to China, the biggest buyer of crude from Venezuela and Iran.
They said one shipper had already temporarily suspended three voyages transporting six million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil.
“The cargoes were just loaded and were about to start sailing to Asia,” a source said.
“Now the voyages are cancelled and tankers are waiting off the Venezuelan coast as it’s safer to do that.”
The US has intercepted and seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, Donald Trump has said.
President Trump confirmed the operation at a meeting with business leaders at the White House on Wednesday.
“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually,” he said at the start of the meeting.
It marks the latest escalation from the Trump administration, which has in recent months ramped up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The US accuses Mr Maduro of presiding over a narcotrafficking operation in Venezuela, which he denies
Pics: X/@AGPamBondi
Tanker ‘used to transport sanctioned’ oil, US claims
Later, Attorney General Pam Bondi shared a video of the operation, confirming that the FBI, Homeland Security, US Coast Guard, and Department of Defence were involved.
She said on X that the US forces “executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran”.
“For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations,” she added.
“This seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely-and our investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil continues.”
She did not name the vessel, what flag the vessel sailed under, or exactly where the incident took place.
UK maritime risk management group Vanguard said that the tanker Skipper – which the US sanctioned for alleged involvement in Iranian oil trading under the name Adisa – was believed to have been seized.
Trump on seized oil: ‘We keep it’
Without giving additional information on the operation, Mr Trump added during the White House meeting with business leaders that “other things are happening”.
Later, Mr Trump said that the tanker was “seized for a very good reason,” and when asked what will happen to the oil on board the vessel, he added: “Well, we keep it, I suppose”.
He also suggested that Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who angered the Trump administration by speaking at a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the UN in September, could “be next” if his country doesn’t “wise up” on alleged drug trafficking.
The US has escalated military deployments against the Latin American country over the last few months, with Mr Trump suggesting that American forces could launch a land attack on Venezuela.
On 2 September, the White House posted on X that it had conducted a strike against so-called “narcoterrorists” shipping fentanyl to the US, without providing direct evidence of the alleged crime.
Sky’s Data & Forensics unit has verified that in the past four months since strikes began, 23 boats have been targeted in 22 strikes, killing 87 people.
Read more: Is this what the beginning of a war looks like?
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Are US strikes on Venezuela about drugs or oil?
Geoffrey Corn, director of the Centre for Military Law at Texas Tech University, told Sky News’s Mark Austin on The World that Mr Trump’s remarks on land strikes “ostensibly” refer to drug cartel members.
Formerly a senior adviser to the US army on warfare law, Mr Corn added: “That could very easily provide the pretext for some confrontation between Venezuelan armed forces and US armed forces.
“And then that would open the door to a broader campaign to basically negate the power of the Venezuelan military.”
Read more on Venezuela:
Hegseth cites ‘fog of war’ in defence of second US strike
Most advanced US aircraft carrier close to Venezuela
Venezuela ‘prepared to break the teeth’ of US
Speaking to Politico on Tuesday, Mr Trump declined to comment on whether US troops would enter Venezuela, but said that Mr Maduro’s “days are numbered”.
According to Bloomberg, the Maduro government describes US actions as a grab for Venezuela’s oil reserves – among the biggest in the world.
Meanwhile, at a rally before a ruling-party-organised demonstration in Caracas, Mr Maduro did not address the seizure, but told supporters that Venezuela is “prepared to break the teeth of the North American empire if necessary”.
Flanked by senior officials, he said that only the ruling party can “guarantee peace, stability, and the harmonious development of Venezuela, South America and the Caribbean”.
All tourists – including those from Britain – will have to undergo a social media screening before being allowed entry into the US under new plans being considered by the country’s border force.
At the moment, Britons are among those who can visit for up to 90 days without a visa. They just have to obtain an electronic travel authorisation, known as an ESTA, for $40 (£30).
The potential social media mandate being proposed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would apply to anyone visiting, whether they require a visa or not.
According to a notice published in America’s federal register on Tuesday, foreign tourists would need to provide their social media from the last five years.
Pic: iStock
It will be “mandatory” to hand over the information, and other details – including email addresses and telephone numbers used in the last five years, as well as the names, addresses, numbers, and birthdays of family members – will also be required.
Currently, as part of the ESTA application process, a tourist from Britain would have to provide an email address, home address, phone number, and emergency contact details. If approved, the ESTA lasts for two years.
CBP is proposing that moving forward, ESTA applications would require a selfie.
It further wants to collect biometrics – face, fingerprints DNA and iris – as part of the ESTA application. It currently only records face and fingerprints upon arrival at the US border.
The proposed changes are open for public consultation for 60 days.
An ESTA application form. Pic: iStock
So much for free speech?
There have been several reports of travellers already having been denied entry into the US over social media posts and messages found on their personal devices after President Donald Trump took office in January.
This includes a French scientist who was turned away at the US border in March after messages “that reflect hatred toward Trump and can be described as terrorism” were found on his phone.
Despite Mr Trump vowing to “restore freedom of speech” on online platforms and end “federal censorship” when he took office, he has found himself at the centre of various free speech rows since.
In September, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel was taken off-air by Disney-owned ABC over comments he made about the assassination of the right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk.
Mr Kimmel accused the Trump administration and its allies of “working very hard to capitalise on the murder of Charlie Kirk”, with the president among those to pin it on left-wing extremism.
President Donald Trump has been at the centre of several free speech rows. Pic: AP
At the time, Mr Trump suggested certain networks should have their licenses revoked over a lack of support for him.
Mr Kimmel’s show was reinstated less than a week after his suspension following widespread backlash from celebrities and viewers.
Read more from Sky News:
This is the reality of Trump’s trade war
Trump’s verdict on America’s traditional allies
And in April, Harvard University sued the Trump administration for seeking “unprecedented and improper” control of the school, after it froze $2.6bn (£1.9bn) of its federal funding.
Harvard’s lawsuit accused the government of waging a retaliation campaign against the university after it rejected a list of 10 demands from a federal antisemitism task force, which included sweeping changes related to campus protests, academics and admissions.
A judge ruled in September that the Trump administration’s freeze of billions in research funding to Harvard was unconstitutional and retaliatory, a decision the US government vowed to appeal.
An agreement has not yet been reached, so the fight between the Ivy League university and Mr Trump rages on.
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