Greece files criminal complaints against 18 influencers

• The Hellenic Gaming Commission lodges criminal complaints against 18 influencers and streamers for promoting unlicensed betting.
• 5 named accounts had a combined reach of more than 3 million followers.
• Action follows new Greek gambling regulations advancing through parliament.

Greece’s gambling regulator has filed criminal complaints against 18 influencers and streamers accused of promoting unlicensed betting platforms.

The Hellenic Gaming Commission (EEEP) announced the move during the 4th Greek Online Gaming Day, days after the Ministry of National Economy and Finance advanced sweeping new gambling regulations through parliament. EEEP president Antonios Vartholomeos said the cases stemmed from an internal investigation into the promotion of unauthorised gambling operators.

Millions of followers reached

Vartholomeos told delegates that 18 cases had been documented, with a criminal complaint already submitted to the Athens Public Prosecutor’s Office, Proto Thema reported. He said the regulator had built each file through its own internal monitoring rather than relying on third-party complaints.

The largest of the five named accounts had 623,000 followers, with the others trailing behind at 456,000, 435,000, 422,000 and 337,000. Together, the five reached an audience of more than 3 million people.

He described the role of influencers and streamers in driving traffic to unauthorised operators as one of the EEEP’s biggest enforcement challenges, and raised concerns that a significant share of the followers exposed to such content are minors.

The regulator presented figures showing that approximately 10.5% of Greece’s population, around 900,000 people, took part in illegal gambling during 2025. The unlicensed market is estimated to generate €2bn annually, costing the state around €400m in lost tax revenue.

That backdrop has driven the government’s push for tougher enforcement tools, including the reform bill the Ministry of National Economy and Finance has advanced through parliament, which expands the EEEP’s powers across both licensed and unlicensed gambling.

Tougher legal toolkit

Under the new framework, the EEEP’s workforce will grow from 80 to 110 staff, with banks required to block transactions linked to unlicensed operators. The blacklist of banned platforms will expand beyond websites, domains and IP addresses to include mobile applications.

Article 66 of the legislation specifically targets gambling advertising, imposing fines of €5,000 to €50,000 per violation on anyone promoting or facilitating unlicensed gambling. The provision covers social media posts, affiliate links, blogs and apps, extending liability to affiliate marketers, website owners, internet cafés and ISPs that fail to block access.

For licensed operators, the bill tightens player identification requirements and changes how winnings are taxed, with rates rising from 15% to 20% on amounts up to €500, and from 20% to 30% above that level after a €100 tax-free threshold. The law also introduces penalties for proxy players who gamble on behalf of another person, with both parties facing up to two years in prison.

Licensed market under pressure

Greece’s licensed online gambling sector remains one of the larger markets in southern Europe, with the Hellenic Gaming Commission reporting gross gaming revenue of €3.07bn in 2025, up 6.7% on the prior year.

A single sponsored post promoting an unlicensed operator can reportedly earn an influencer more than €5,000, a figure that helps explain how the practice spread so quickly across Greek social media.

Criminal exposure gives the EEEP a sharper tool than administrative fines alone, and how prosecutors handle these first 18 cases will likely determine whether other promoters drop unlicensed clients or keep testing the regulator’s resolve.

Stoiximan, the local brand of Kaizen Gaming, holds an estimated 50% of the licensed online sports betting market, with Betsson and Greek-founded Novibet among the other established names.

Supplier and operator activity has continued at pace alongside the enforcement push. EGT Digital recently extended its jackpot content to Superbet, which entered the Greek market in March 2026, while Novibet has broadened its casino catalogue through deals with suppliers including ICONIC21 and DEGEN Studios.