The Norwegian Gambling Authority (NGA) has opened an investigation into Norsk Tipping after it was claimed someone under the age of 18 had deposited money with the monopoly operator.
The probe followed a tip from a bank that a large sum of money had been transferred from a bank account belonging to someone under 18 to the Norwegian firm.
Information found so far by the NGA indicates that players are sharing their customer accounts with under 18s, rather than children themselves setting up accounts.
In a letter sent to Norsk Tipping, the NGA’s senior legal advisers, Anya Therese Markhus and Monica Alisøy Kjelsnes, said the act of lending accounts to underage individuals constitutes a violation of Norsk Tipping’s customer terms and conditions and also a violation of Norway’s gambling and money laundering rules.
The letter also revealed Norsk Tipping had received 21 cases related to this issue since 1 January 2024 but did not notify the regulator.
Requiring more information, the regulator posed nine questions to Norsk Tipping.
The first question asked when payment solutions Vipps and Apple Pay were introduced and what risk assessments were conducted, as well as whether new assessments had been carried out since the discovery of the abuse of customer relationships.
Norsk Tipping was also been asked what measures have been taken to prevent players under the age of 18 playing via other customer accounts.
Reference was made to a meeting held on 13 May between the operator and the NGA where Norsk Tipping said it had not considered removing payment options Vipps and Apple Pay, and whether this was now a consideration to make it more difficult for individuals under the age of 18 to transfer funds.
The operator was also asked how it assesses payment options, as well as how payment-related assessments adhere to the requirements of the country’s anti-money laundering legislation.
The operator has been given two weeks from the date of the letter, 15 May, to respond to the questions.
NGA department director Tore Bell said: “It is too early to determine what has happened. We will investigate the matter further and have asked Norsk Tipping for more information.”
In February, Norsk Tipping was fined NOK36m (£2.6m) after the NGA found that over 240 players were unable to self-exclude from the iOS app because of an earlier software upgrade.
The post NGA opens investigation into Norsk Tipping following underage gambling tips first appeared on EGR Intel.
Norwegian monopoly operator alleged to have received 21 cases of customer accounts being shared with players under 18 since 1 January 2024
The post NGA opens investigation into Norsk Tipping following underage gambling tips first appeared on EGR Intel.