Learn how to verify an online casino's license is real, not just a badge. Step-by-step register checks for UK Gambling Commission and Malta Gaming Authority licenses.
Published August 21, 2026 · Last updated August 21, 2026
Don't trust a license badge on a casino's homepage. Take the license number and the regulator's name from the casino's footer, go to that regulator's official website directly (type the URL yourself, don't click through from the casino), search its public register, and confirm the operator name, license number, and status all match. If the casino isn't listed, or the status isn't active, treat that as a genuine red flag.
A license badge on a homepage proves nothing by itself - anyone can copy an image from a legitimate operator's site and paste it into their own footer. Here's the actual four-step process for confirming a license is real, with worked walkthroughs for the two regulators readers ask about most.
A license badge is an image file. Any site can save one from a legitimate operator and paste it into their own footer. The image itself carries no verification. The only thing that actually proves a license is real is finding it on the regulator's own public register, which the casino doesn't control and can't edit.
This takes about five minutes once you know where to look.
The two walkthroughs below cover the UK Gambling Commission and the Malta Gaming Authority, the two regulators readers ask about most.
The UK Gambling Commission's public register is at gamblingcommission.gov.uk, under “Public register.” It covers over 2,600 licensed businesses - 2,658 at the time we checked.
The result shows the account number, the account name (the legal business behind the casino), the license status, the date the license was most recently granted, and the trading and domain names registered to that account. We tested this ourselves by searching “bet365” - it returns Hillside (Technology) Limited, the account name behind that brand, with an Active status showing since September 2014. Status appears as Active, Expired, Revoked, Suspended, or a similar category. Active is what you want to see; anything else means the license isn't currently valid, whatever the casino's own site claims.
Note the British spelling: the UKGC's own site says “licence,” not “license.” That's not a typo if you see it there - it's just UK English.
The Malta Gaming Authority runs its Licensee Register at mgalicenseeregister.mga.org.mt, reachable from the “Licensee Hub” section of mga.org.mt.
Each listing carries what the MGA calls a dynamic seal. Click through it for the full detail: license number, current authorisation status (the MGA uses British spelling on its own site too), which gaming services are covered (casino, sports betting, poker, and so on), and the domains registered under that license.
A search that returns nothing for the operator name or license number the casino gave you. A license number that returns a match, but under a different company name than the one on the casino's site. A status that says expired, suspended, or revoked instead of active. A domain that doesn't appear anywhere in the regulator's list of URLs tied to that license, even though the company name matches. Any one of these is worth pausing over. A casino that fails this check has either made an error worth asking about directly, or isn't licensed the way it claims to be.
UKGC and MGA are two of the larger, more established regulators, but they're not the only legitimate ones. Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, Kahnawake, and Curaçao all run their own public registers, and most established international casinos hold a license from one of these rather than the UKGC specifically. An offshore license isn't itself a red flag. The same four-step process applies: find the regulator's own site, search its own register, and check the same three things match. What matters is that the license is real and checkable on that regulator's own site, not which jurisdiction issued it.
One thing worth knowing: if a casino states a license from a smaller or less well-known regulator - for example Anjouan or a similar offshore body - don't expect to find it on the UKGC or MGA registers. Checking the wrong regulator's register and finding nothing doesn't mean the license is fake; it means you checked the wrong list. Confirm which regulator actually issued the license first, then go to that regulator's own register. See our guide on checking an online casino is legitimate for the other checks worth running alongside this one - game-fairness certification, complaint patterns, HTTPS, support response, and a test withdrawal.
Usually in the footer of the casino's website, often in a line like "Licensed and regulated by [regulator], license number [XXXX]." If it's not there, check an About Us or Licensing page. If you can't find a license number anywhere on the site, that's a red flag on its own.
It means the operator name or license number the casino gave you doesn't match anything the regulator has on file. That could mean the license has lapsed, the casino misstated its details, or the license doesn't exist. None of those are good signs.
Yes. Curaçao, Kahnawake, Gibraltar, and similar bodies all publish their own public registers, and the same four-step process applies. An offshore license isn't itself a red flag - what matters is that it's real and checkable on that regulator's own site.
That means the license isn't currently valid, regardless of what the casino's own site claims. Treat it the same as a license that doesn't appear on the register at all.
Not on its own. Open a new tab and go to the regulator's site directly instead of clicking through. A fake verification page costs a scammer about as much effort as a copied badge image, and it fools more people.
The UK Gambling Commission and Malta Gaming Authority both do - covered in this guide with worked examples. Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, Kahnawake, and Curaçao also publish searchable registers.