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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Winnings can be withdrawn as cryptocurrency – and then converted into real cash.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)
Image:
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.

How do the casinos work?

Roblox’s in-game currency, Robux, is supposed to be used for purchasing in-game items like clothes and experiences. The currency can be bought for real money, typically at a rate of around £1 per 100 Robux.

When a user creates an account on the casino’s website using their Roblox credentials, the casino gains access to their Roblox account. Some casinos ask users to tick a box to say they are over 18 or enter a date of birth, but they do not attempt to verify the user’s age.

The casino can then transfer the user’s Robux to another Roblox account under its control. In exchange, the user is given an equivalent number of virtual gambling chips on the casino’s website.

These virtual gambling chips can be used to play games like roulette and blackjack. They can be exchanged back into Robux, or converted into cryptocurrency. This cryptocurrency can then easily be converted into real cash.

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 is one of the illegal sites targeting Roblox users
Image:
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
Image:
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
Image:
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.

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US voters divided over Trump’s first 100 days – 10 out of 10, or a lack of grace and empathy?

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US voters divided over Trump's first 100 days - 10 out of 10, or a lack of grace and empathy?

From the White House these past 100 days, I’ve chronicled the whirlwind that’s reshaping America.

Getting beyond the West Wing and out of Washington has been harder. The volume of news has necessitated a near-constant presence in the US capital.

Every single day, there has been something. Of course, this has been entirely intentional for the president and his team of proud disrupters.

They pledged to govern differently, and on that promise, they have more than delivered.

To fix America, Donald Trump first had to convince people that it is broken. Many didn’t need convincing. Look for decline here and you’ll easily find it; communities left behind.

Look for bureaucracy and waste – you’ll find that too. Common sense silenced by wokism? Many can relate to that. Immigration out of control? Politicians have been struggling with that for decades.

In just 100 days, Mr Trump has harnessed all of that into a package of change that feels like nothing short of a revolution.

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Despite the tsunami of news, my colleagues and I have managed to escape from the White House. And it is there, beyond Washington, that the more subtle but no less profound changes to the fabric of this nation can be felt.

Whether it be innocuous tattoos that might now be associated with gang membership, free speech opinions penned on social media, or the willingness just to chat about politics, one startling thing I have observed these past 100 days is a growing sense of fear.

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Does Trump really ‘run the country and the world?’

A passion for politics

Anyone who has worked as a foreign correspondent in America will tell you that Americans love to give their opinion on politics. And they do it, always, with word-perfect articulation. There is no better place in the world for a ‘voxpop’.

There is a passion for politics that I haven’t seen anywhere else I’ve lived and worked. Until now. Over these past 100 days, I have increasingly found a reticence that reflects an America changed by this president and his style.

I’m in Detroit at the moment, in Michigan, the battleground state that helped to deliver Donald Trump the presidency back in November. I was here back then, too, and recall the enthusiasm with which people would discuss the upcoming election. There was enthusiasm for Trump and enthusiasm for Harris.

An indictment of the times

Now the response to my questions is, so often, “no thanks, I’d rather not”. Sometimes people ask where the report will be seen. “Will it be on in America?” Think about it – this is America. What an indictment of the times, that people fear offering their opinion – whatever side of the aisle they sit.

Very often, it’s businesses that are extremely cautious of being associated with one political view or another. Such is the animosity now between the two sides.

After a day of perseverance in Detroit this week, a few folk did talk to us. Their answers were revealing.

In a park, I met Marie Freeman who said people are now “more angry”. Her view is that America has lost something over these past 100 days.

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“I definitely want us to move forward in a positive, more empathetic way. I think with Trump being such a hardcore president, we lose the empathy, we lose the grace for our fellow neighbours. We’re all so angry because we’re under angry leadership. And that’s not good.”

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She articulated a vibe which I recognise in so many parts of this country right now. A lack of grace and empathy.

Yet, yards away, a couple walking their cats stopped to chat. I asked how they would rate these past 100 days. Two tens out of ten for Trump’s performance.

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Trump ‘very disappointed’ in Russian strikes on Ukraine and calls for Putin to ‘sit down and sign a deal’

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Trump 'very disappointed' in Russian strikes on Ukraine and calls for Putin to 'sit down and sign a deal'

Donald Trump has said he’s “very disappointed” with Russia as he continues to push for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.

On Saturday, the US president met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican for their first face-to-face meeting since their explosive White House summit.

The Ukrainian president said the meeting ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral could end up being “historic.” Hours later, Mr Trump questioned Vladimir Putin’s appetite for peace in a Truth Social post.

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From Saturday: Trump meets Zelenskyy at funeral

Speaking before boarding Air Force One on Sunday, Mr Trump again said the meeting went well, and that the Ukrainian leader was “calmer”.

“I think he understands the picture, I think he wants to make a deal,” he said, before turning to Mr Putin and Russia.

“I want him to stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal,” the US president said, adding he was “very disappointed that they did the bombing of those places (including Kyiv, where nine people were killed in a Russian airstrike on Friday) after discussions”.

However, Mr Trump said he thinks Mr Zelenskyy is ready to give up Crimea, which the Ukrainian leader has repeatedly said he would refuse to do.

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He added that “we’ll see what happens in the next few days” and said “don’t talk to me about Crimea, talk to Obama and Biden about Crimea”.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, while Barack Obama was president.

Meanwhile, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Sky’s US partner network NBC News that a peace deal to end the war was “closer in general than they’ve been any time in the last three years, but it’s still not there”.

“If this was an easy war to end, it would have been ended by someone else a long time ago,” he added on the Meet the Press show.

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It comes after North Korea confirmed it had deployed troops to fight for Russia, months after Ukraine and Western officials said its forces were in Europe.

State media outlet KCNA reported North Korean soldiers made an “important contribution” to expelling Ukrainian forces from Russian territory, likely to be the Kursk region.

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KCNA said leader Kim Jong Un made the decision to deploy troops to Russia and notified Moscow, and quoted him as saying: “They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland.”

It also quoted the country’s ruling Workers’ Party as saying the end of the battle to liberate Kursk showed the “highest strategic level of the firm militant friendship” between North Korea and Russia.

Last June, Mr Kim and Mr Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty after a state visit – his first to the country in 24 years.

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From June 2024: Putin drives Kim around in luxury limo during state visit

The North Korean leader promised at the time “full support and solidarity to the Russian government, army and people in carrying out the special military operation in Ukraine”.

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Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault, has died, her family says

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Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault, has died, her family says

Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault, has died aged 41.

In a statement to Sky’s US partner network NBC News on Friday, her family said she took her own life in the Perth suburb of Neergabby, Australia, where she had been living for several years.

“It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia,” her family said.

“She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.

“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors.

“In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.”

FILE - Virginia Giuffre, center, holds a news conference outside a Manhattan court in New York, Aug. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
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Pic: AP

Police said emergency services received reports of an unresponsive woman at a property in Neergabby on Friday night.

“Police and St John Western Australia attended and provided emergency first aid. Sadly, the 41-year-old woman was declared deceased at the scene,” a police spokeswoman said.

“The death is being investigated by Major Crime detectives; early indication is the death is not suspicious.”

Sexual assault claims

Prince Andrew attends the Royal Family's Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene's church. File pic: Reuters
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Prince Andrew has denied all claims of wrongdoing. File pic: Reuters

Ms Giuffre sued the Duke of York for sexual abuse in August 2021, saying Andrew had sex with her when she was 17 and had been trafficked by his friend, the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The duke has repeatedly denied the claims, and he has not been charged with any criminal offences.

In March 2022, it was announced Ms Giuffre and Andrew had reached an out-of-court settlement – believed to include a “substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights”.

She stuck by her version of events until the end

Of the many dozens of victims of Jeffrey Epstein, it was Virginia Giuffre who became the most high-profile.

She was among the loudest and most compelling voices, urging criminal charges to be brought against Epstein, waving her right to anonymity in 2015.

She told how he and Ghislaine Maxwell groomed her and “passed around like a platter of fruit” to be used by rich and powerful men.

But her name and face became known around the world after she accused Prince Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was 17 years old.

The picture of her together with the prince and Maxwell at the top of a staircase, his hand around her waist, is the defining image of the whole scandal.

Prince Andrew said he had no memory of the occasion. But Giuffre stuck by her version of events until the end.

‘An incredible champion’

Sigrid McCawley, Ms Giuffre’s attorney, said in a statement that she “was much more than a client to me; she was a dear friend and an incredible champion for other victims”.

“Her courage pushed me to fight harder, and her strength was awe-inspiring,” she said. “The world has lost an amazing human being today.”

“Rest in peace, my sweet angel,” she added.

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Dini von Mueffling, Ms Giuffre’s representative, also said that “Virginia was one of the most extraordinary human beings I have ever had the honour to know”.

“Deeply loving, wise, and funny, she was a beacon to other survivors and victims,” she added. “She adored her children and many animals.

“She was always more concerned with me than with herself. I will miss her beyond words.

“It was the privilege of a lifetime to represent her.”

Ms Giuffre said at the end of March she had four days to live after a car accident, posting on social media that “I’ve gone into kidney renal failure”. She was discharged from hospital eight days later.

Raised mainly in Florida, she said she was abused by a family friend early in life, which led to her living on the streets at times as a teenager.

She said that in 2000, she met Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite who was convicted in 2021 on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Undated handout photo issued by US Department of Justice of Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein, which has been shown to the court during the sex trafficking trial of Maxwell in the Southern District of New York. The British socialite is accused of preying on vulnerable young girls and luring them to massage rooms to be molested by Epstein between 1994 and 2004. Issue date: Wednesday December 8, 2021.
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Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: US Department of Justice

Ms Giuffre said Maxwell then introduced her to Epstein and hired her as his masseuse, and said she was sex trafficked and sexually abused by him and associates around the world.

‘A survivor’

After meeting her husband in 2002, while taking massage training in Thailand at what she said was Epstein’s behest, she moved to Australia and had a family.

She founded the sex trafficking victims’ advocacy charity SOAR in 2015, and is quoted on its website as saying: “I do this for victims everywhere.

“I am no longer the young and vulnerable girl who could be bullied. I am now a survivor, and nobody can ever take that away from me.”

:: 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.

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