The UK Gambling Commission has published research into illegal lotteries run on social media. Its central finding: people entering draws on TikTok spend more effort judging whether a draw looks genuine than whether the organiser holds a licence. Most do not know when paying for a chance at a prize requires the regulator's permission.
Yonder Consulting carried out the study, commissioned after complaints about suspicious TikTok draws rose sharply at the UKGC in 2025. Only one in five participants checked whether the organiser appeared on the commission's register, was signed up to GAMSTOP, or showed licence logos on the page. Users read familiar hosts, visible winners, comments, recurring streams and live draws as proof instead. A cheap ticket and ordinary payment methods lower the sense of risk.
Organisers avoid the word lottery, calling the activity a giveaway, a competition or a live draw. Some move payment off the platform, or ask buyers to use PayPal's friends and family option, to hide that the transaction is commercial. Hosts' grasp of the law varies: some do not understand the requirements, others pick wording that leaves the question open.
The 18–24 audience meets illegal operators on TikTok more often than any other group, though the researchers could not recruit enough respondents in that bracket for a full picture. Over the past 12 months, UKGC action led to 252 illegal lotteries being removed from platforms. 'This is a relatively new aspect of the illegal market,' said Rupam Jagota, a research manager at the commission. 'We will keep strengthening the evidence base to identify risks more precisely in a fast-changing digital environment.'
