Fake Tesco Site Hijacks Top Google Search Result in UK Grocery Scam

An online casino masquerading as the official gambling site of the UK’s largest supermarket chain, Tesco, remains accessible to UK consumers despite being reported to authorities by the company.

The unlicensed site, TescoSlots.com, has adopted the chain’s branding and describes itself in advertisements as “the official Tesco casino.”

However, Tesco begs to differ.

Ads for the casino have appeared on Facebook and Instagram, however Meta removed them after being contacted by The Guardian.

Sham Brand Trend

Tesco is not the only big brand to have been hijacked by black market operators. Major land-based operators have experienced it for years. Now, unlicensed online casinos are increasingly appropriating the identities of non-gaming brands in a bid to exploit consumer trust.   

Similar schemes have used the branding of Barclays and challenger banks like Monzo.

Meanwhile, the names and images of sports stars, including Lewis Hamilton, Tyson Fury, Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham, and Robin van Persie, have appeared as “brand ambassadors” for gambling sites, despite the lack of any such licensing agreements being in place.

At the time of writing, Tuesday (September 15), the site was ranking first in Google’s organic results for the search term “Tesco slots.”

Because this specific search term may be used by unsuspecting Tesco customers looking for available grocery delivery slots, Google’s results potentially expose users to an unlicensed gambling website impersonating a brand they trust.

The site offers new customers a £1,500 bonus and 250 free spins and claims to provide more than 3,000 slots and live dealer games. It also references Tesco’s Clubcard loyalty program and bizarrely claims customers can use a Tesco debit card to deposit.

Tesco Bank no longer offers current accounts or debit cards (and UK law prohibits using credit cards for online gambling anyway).

Tesco Alerts Authorities

Tesco reported the operation to the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre and Action Fraud, the fraud-reporting service run by City of London Police, after The Guardian alerted the company to the scheme.

City of London Police confirmed the report had been received but said it had not yet been passed for investigation, The Guardian reported Sunday (September 13).

Tesco Slots claims to operate under a Curaçao license, but it doesn’t display the name of its operator or an identifiable license number on its public-facing pages.

Regardless, an overseas gambling license does not authorize an operator to offer gambling to consumers in Great Britain without a UK Gambling Commission license, let alone while passing itself off as one of Britain’s best-loved supermarkets.