British Gambling Commission reveals new insights into illegal lotteries on social media
The regulator has published new research into how consumers engage with illegal lotteries and raffles led by individuals on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
UK.- The British Gambling Commission has reported on its findings from research into UK consumer engagement with illegal lotteries and raffles on social media. The regulator focused particularly on unlicensed lotteries and raffles run by individual users on TikTok after seeing an increase in reports in particular in 2025. Similar operations on Facebook and Instagram were also investigated.
The commission said it carried out the research to fill gaps in its understanding about why consumers choose to take part in the draws and what their journeys look like. The result was a three-stage mixed-methods project conducted by Yonder Consulting.
The first stage used a digital intelligence approach to analyse public raffle-related conversations on TikTok to observe how they are discussed and promoted in real-world online environments. This allowed Yonder to map how the ecosystem works, including how consumers first come across illegal lotteries and raffles through livestreams, recommendations and reposts, how participation often extends beyond TikTok through payment platforms and other third-party channels, and the cues used by hosts and participants that indicate trust and legitimacy.
The digital intelligence findings identified areas for further exploration in a subsequent quantitative survey and qualitative interview stage. These focused on gaining insight into the prevalence of consumer participation, how often users find lotteries by chance rather than actively seeking them and whether hosts’ framing of lotteries and raffles impacts consumer perception of risk and legality.
Illegal lottery findings
The Gambling Commission’s research into illegal lotteries found that consumers were generally more concerned with whether a raffle seemed genuine and offered a realistic chance of winning than whether it was being run legally. Low ticket prices, informal presentation of the raffles and lotteries, and ability to use familiar payment methods often reduced consumers’ perceptions of risk, which made them less likely to report concerns.
The regulator also found that some smaller-scale hosts may not fully understand the rules themselves, while others appeared to use language and payment practices to obscure what they are doing. Meanwhile, it suggested that the greatest risks to consumers were often not in the original posts but in being directed to third-party websites, payment platforms or private messaging channels where information about the terms and conditions, protections, and legitimacy, can be much less clear.
The Gambling Commission noted that there were challenges in recruiting participants for research. The survey found that people aged 18 to 24 were more likely to have participated in illegal lotteries on TikTok, but this demographic proved to be difficult to recruit for interviews. Similarly, it was only able to recruit one raffle host for the qualitative interviews. The findings showed a need for greater monitoring, it said.
“Findings show that the consumer journey often extends beyond the platform where the draw is advertised, highlighting the importance of understanding and monitoring external websites, payment links and peer-to-peer payment methods,” it said. “The findings also reinforce the need for proactive monitoring, intelligence-sharing and platform-level interventions in addition to relying on consumer reports of these raffles and lotteries taking place.
“The research also points to the need for clearer guidance for individuals and small businesses about what is and is not permitted, alongside visible enforcement where activity appears deliberate or persistent.”
The regulator now wants to analyse whether engagement with illegal lotteries and raffles could serve as a gateway into other forms of gambling. It also aims to gain insights into the most effective enforcement and communication for the younger consumers involved.
“To impactfully address some of these questions, we, as researchers should explore more innovative ways of tapping into this younger audience, such as digital ethnographies, online communities, longitudinal, and experimental approaches,” it said.
