Tesco reports fake casino ads to City of London police as brands are hijacked on Meta platforms

The supermarket chain is among several well-known businesses targeted in what appears to be an effort by offshore gambling operators to capitalise on brand recognition. A fake "Tesco casino" was advertised on Facebook and had its own page on the platform until The Guardian sent questions to Meta, the social media company's owner. The advertisements were linked to a website, still accessible in the UK, that describes itself as "the official Tesco casino".

The site says its slot machine games are "laid out as clearly as the aisles at a Tesco Extra" and claims the casino is "built on the trust of Tesco, a FTSE 100 company with 107 years of UK trading history since 1919". It does not hold a licence to provide gambling services in Great Britain, which is a legal requirement to operate.

Tesco declined to comment but referred its concerns to the National Cyber Security Centre and the Report Fraud service, which is run by City of London police. A spokesperson for the force said it had received the complaint but had not yet referred it to a police force for investigation "at this time".

Barclays' branding has been co-opted in promotional material featuring the face of the Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton. In one Facebook advert for "Barclays Slots", which has since been taken down, an apparently AI-generated woman had her trousers pulled down before turning round to reveal she was playing a Barclays casino game on her phone. Barclays said it "does not endorse or have any involvement" with the material and had taken appropriate action to protect customers from misleading use of its intellectual property.

Other advertisements on Facebook and Instagram promoted fake casinos including "Monzo slots", using the online bank's imagery. Monzo described the material as an "AI-enabled scam where criminals take advantage of our much-loved brand to trick people" and urged customers to be alert to it.

Meta said it had removed the advertisements after The Guardian's inquiries. The company is understood to believe that advertisers, rather than its platforms, are responsible for complying with local regulations.

The boxer Tyson Fury responded to an online casino bearing his name by filming a video for his Instagram followers in which he disavowed any involvement. He said he had turned down "millions" offered by gambling companies in the past and would never promote the industry. There is no suggestion that the fake Tyson Fury casino was advertised on Meta platforms.

A cryptocurrency casino called Rainbet, which claims to be licensed by the Indian Ocean island of Anjouan, uses an apparent lookalike of the Manchester City and Norway striker Erling Haaland acting as a croupier in a Norway shirt. The site is not available to users in the UK but was advertised through Meta. Legitimate gambling companies including Coral and Gala Bingo have also been impersonated by unlicensed operators.

Bejay Patel, managing director for the UK and Ireland at Entain, which owns both brands, said any casino masquerading as a licensed operator was "exploiting British consumers and legitimate businesses alike and paying no taxes, while some of the world's largest technology platforms continue to profit from hosting their adverts". He added that Ofcom "needs to take a harder line on the companies facilitating this activity".

The Gambling Commission and the Advertising Standards Authority are aware of the problem, but appear to have had little success in stopping the spread of such advertisements. The commission said illegal activity linked to gambling was a threat it took seriously, and that using a trusted brand's identity to funnel people towards unlicensed casino products was "a particularly cynical version of it". It said it would act to take down unlicensed websites targeting UK consumers and would be better able to do so from the autumn, when it gains additional powers under the crime and policing bill.