Supposed Filipino online casino, PHLove, has come under fire once again. After we reported on the Maltese watchdog distancing itself from the website, we reached out to the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
Unsurprisingly, as it turns out, the UKGC also doesn’t have PHLove on record as licensed by them. This is even though PHLove has used the logo to “verify” that it is operating alongside the UKGC.
In an email, a representative of the UKGC said:
“I have checked our public register and this operator… is not licensed by us. Our licence register goes back three years so it has not been licensed by us for at least three years. I’m checking with colleagues to see if this site has ever been licensed.
“As a consequence, I’ve passed information about this website on to our team that investigates unlicensed operators for further action.
“We do, and will continue to, take action to disrupt the unlicensed market – working with technology platforms such as search engines, other enforcement agencies such as HMRC, and key facilitators such as payment providers and advertisers.”
The UK Gambling Commission takes itself incredibly seriously. Since April, as we were told over email, the UKGC has issued over 1,150 different cease and desist orders. It has also managed to work with Google and Microsoft’s Bing team to remove over 81,000 different URLs from the search engines.
PHLove even faked its support email
When we tried to follow up with PHLove over their support email, we received nothing but a failed delivery message. The support address is described as “always listening” and even attaches a face and name to the support line. However, much like the rest of the site’s claims, “Ms. Cruz” is just a generic stock photo provided by iStock.
ReadWrite has reached out to PAGCOR again regarding the site’s apparent license.
