{"id":21519,"date":"2026-03-27T04:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T07:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=21519"},"modified":"2026-04-19T07:15:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T10:15:31","slug":"gambling-operators-urged-to-stay-vigilant-after-gambia-revenue-authority-warns-of-tax-official-impersonation-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/gambling-operators-urged-to-stay-vigilant-after-gambia-revenue-authority-warns-of-tax-official-impersonation-scams","title":{"rendered":"Gambling operators urged to stay vigilant after Gambia Revenue Authority warns of tax official impersonation scams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Businesses including betting and gaming operators advised to verify tax officials through a new staff ID portal as impersonation scams targeting taxpayers emerge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>The Gambia.- The <strong>Gambia Revenue Authority <\/strong>(GRA) has warned businesses operating in The Gambia, including betting and gambling operators, to remain <strong>alert <\/strong>to impersonation scams after individuals were reported to be posing as tax officials and attempting to collect illegal payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a <strong>public notice<\/strong>, the authority said scammers had been impersonating GRA officers in an attempt to obtain money from taxpayers. The authority said: \u201cThe Gambia Revenue Authority warns the public that scammers are impersonating GRA officers and collecting money illegally.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To address the issue, the GRA has launched an <strong>Online Staff Identification Verification Portal<\/strong>, allowing businesses and taxpayers to confirm the identity of officials before making any payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under the system, individuals are encouraged to request a GRA staff identification number from anyone claiming to represent the authority and <strong>verify <\/strong>it through the official online portal. The authority added: \u201cThe public should always ask for a GRA Staff ID number and verify it online before making any payment.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The notice applies broadly to taxpayers and businesses interacting with the authority, including companies operating in regulated sectors such as betting and gaming. The warning is relevant for betting and gaming operators, which regularly interact with the tax authority for <strong>regulatory and tax compliance <\/strong>payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gambling taxation has also become an increasing focus for policymakers in The Gambia. In the 2026 national budget, the government raised the tax on gambling winnings from 40 per cent to <strong>50 per cent<\/strong>, applying to payouts from <strong>sports betting, casinos, lotteries<\/strong> and other gaming activities. The measure, announced by Finance Minister Seedy Keita, took effect on January 1 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The notice added: \u201cDo NOT make any payment without verification. Stay alert. Verify before you pay.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label\">See also:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/03\/SENE-JC-23-300x200.png\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href='https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/senegal-betting-operators-warn-tax-burden-could-reach-128-of-revenue'>Senegal betting sector calls for sustainable tax framework as burden hits 128% of revenue<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Businesses including betting and gaming operators advised to verify tax officials through a new staff ID portal as impersonation scams targeting taxpayers emerge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2809,"featured_media":21523,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) has issued a warning to businesses, including betting and gaming operators, regarding impersonation scams by individuals posing as tax officials. To mitigate this fraud risk, the GRA has launched an Online Staff Identification Verification Portal, urging taxpayers to verify official identities before making any payments. This development occurs amidst recent changes to gambling taxation in The Gambia, with winnings tax increasing from 40% to 50% effective January 1, 2026.","focusai_entities":"The Gambia Revenue Authority, GRA, Seedy Keita","focusai_location":"The Gambia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.7), compliance_legal (0.95), operator_casino (1.0), tech_data (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.95), investor_analyst (0.75), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Portal Security & Governance","query":"What specific governance frameworks and technical safeguards has the GRA implemented to ensure the integrity and resilience of its new Online Staff Identification Verification Portal against sophisticated cyber threats and data manipulation?"},{"label":"GGR\/NGR Impact Analysis","query":"How will the increased 50% tax on gambling winnings, effective January 1, 2026, specifically impact the projected Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) and Net Gaming Revenue (NGR) for licensed betting and gaming operators in The Gambia, and what strategic adjustments are operators considering?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60023,60012],"tags":[2689],"class_list":["post-21519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-west-africa","tag-gambling-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2809"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21519"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21596,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21519\/revisions\/21596"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}