The National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board (LGRB) in a statement dated 11th October advised the public to refrain from dealing with betting company BLQ Football Uganda sighting reasons of not having a valid license to carry out any gaming services.
The attention of the Board was drawn to a company trading as BLQ FOOTBALL Uganda on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and through their website.
“Upon investigation, the Board has established that Acclaim BLQ Sports SMC Ltd t/a BLQ Football Uganda is operating illegal online gaming activities without a license,” the board said.
Francis Owino, a residence of Katabi Busambaga in Entebbe Municipality confessed unforseen shock upon discovering that he had been scammed by BLQ Football Uganda, according to him, he placed a bet with a stake fee of Ugx. 400,000 during the latter weekend’s Football games and ascertained to having emerged victorious from the bet hopping for a mega net win of Ugx. 1.5 million, however his glorious hopes were shattered upon disclosure of having been scammed.
“When I learnt about BLQ from a friend, I was convinced and advised to place a stake bet of Ugx 400,000 which I did, having had a successful prediction of my matches, I was very happy and started making follow ups for my money, i kept receiving excuses of network challenges to make the withdrawals, then the second excuse I received after another follow up was that they didn’t work because of Independence day, I resiliently pushed for my payment only to be told and read on social media that BLQ was operating illegally, each time I try to login to my BLQ credentials account, it’s never responsive”, said Owino.
Owino further notes that despite being inducted into BLQ Football Uganda, he still had un answered questions about the credibility of the company and it’s operations given the fact that it operated highly favourable from others, he imagined the profits raised by the business.
“Unlike other betting companies, I always wondered which kind this one is which even pays customers even when they loose a bet, they pay you back the stake you invested in, so I was asking my self, how do they make profits” said Owino.
The National lottery and Gaming Regulatory board (LGRB) further noted that BLQ is using the gaming industry as a strategy to market its membership. It claims to be an investment company where members make money by recruiting people to join the BLQ Football Club platform.
“We have alerted Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and are in receipt of a directive to MTN, Airtel and other internet service providers to block this site from providing any gaming services to Ugandans,” adds the statement.
The public has been advised against dealing with unlicensed gaming operators who defraud unsuspecting members of the public. The board further advised the public to always verify the registration and license status of a company before engaging with them.
The National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board is a body corporate established under the Lotteries and Gaming Act No. 7 of 2016 which came into effect on 8th April 2016 with Section 4 of the Act mandating it to issue licenses for Lotteries, Casinos, gaming and betting and to protect the citizens from the adverse effects of gaming.
