The Maltese Gaming Authority (MGA) has once again had to step forward to point out that it has no association with a gambling platform. The post contains two links that lead to the Pocket Games Soft platform, which hosts the games linked.
Pocket Games Soft (PG Soft), like our previous reporting on PH Love, is using a false MGA license to legitimise itself. Unlike other platforms that claim to be licensed by watchdogs like the MGA, PG Soft was at one point actually vetted by the Maltese authority.
However, in 2020, the MGA stripped the outfit of its license and hasn’t reinstated it five years later, according to its database of active licenses.
Here’s why the MGA suspended PG Soft’s license
According to the press release from September 29, 2020, the license was suspended due to the following reasons:
“The Authorised Person has failed to submit the documentation further to a change in direct or indirect qualifying shareholding within the thirty (30) day period stipulated by law;
The Authorised Person failed to submit the Industry Performance Returns pertaining to the period covering January 2019 to June 2019;
The Authorised Person failed to submit the Industry Performance Returns pertaining to the period covering July 2019 to December 2019.”
The MGA is now having to clear up confusion, as the games linked to in the post use the logo during the loading screens.
Fake license claims are becoming more prevalent
PG Soft still claims its licensed on its website, too, not only allowing games on its platform to use the logo, but also in its dedicated “Get in touch” section of its website.
It’s becoming more and more common that certain outfits will simply hijack and use licensors or other gambling bodies to cement the legitimacy of their business. In the US, a tribe has had to follow similar actions to the MGA, as it was found that an unlicensed online gambling outfit was claiming to be part of a tribe’s business. Online gambling in the state of Florida is illegal.
ReadWrite has reached out for comment.
