How to report a fake betting app in Kenya: where to go and what to send

Where do you report a fake betting app in Kenya?

You report a fake betting app to more than one body, because each one controls a different part of the problem. The Gambling Regulatory Authority deals with gambling offered without a licence. Google and Apple deal with the store listing, and Safaricom deals with the phone numbers and M-Pesa accounts that collect the money.

Before you report, note what gave the app away. The signs of a clone betting app include a copied name, a developer that is not the licensee and requests to pay a personal number. The table shows who handles which part.

Check the licence list before you report

Section 28(1) of the Gambling Control Act, 2025 says a person shall not offer any gambling activity or service unless it is licensed under the Act. Regulation 102(2) of the Gambling Control (Conduct of Gambling Operations) Regulations, 2026 (L.N. 112) calls an application that offers gambling without the required licence an illegal gambling platform.

So the first question is whether the app belongs to a licensee at all. Look up the trading name in the App check list of licensed operators and their domains, which reproduces the regulator's list for the trading period 2025/26. Then work through the steps to verify that a betting app comes from a licensed operator, matching the developer name and domain to one line.

Section 36(3) of the Act requires an online licensee to display its licence on its online platform. An app with no licence on show, or with a licence that belongs to another company, is worth reporting. An app that copies a licensed brand is worth reporting too, so the steps below cover both cases.

What to collect before you report

A report that names the app, shows where it came from and traces the money gives each body something to act on. Collect these items first and keep the originals on your phone.

Safaricom's Paybill service asks the payer for a Business Number, an Account Number, the amount and the M-PESA PIN. Write down the first two exactly as you entered them. Never put your PIN or any password in a report.

If the app asked for a photo of your national ID, note that as well. The rules on ID photos in betting apps explain what a licensee may ask for and why it matters when the request came from an app you cannot tie to a licence.

How to report to the Gambling Regulatory Authority

Section 10(m) of the Act gives the Authority the function of receiving and deciding complaints from companies and the public on games of chance. Its website has a complaints page and a whistleblowing page.

1. Call the toll-free line 0800-723-770, as shown on the regulator's website, and say you want to report an unlicensed betting app.
2. Or write a complaint, sign it and deliver it to the offices at ACK Garden Annex, 7th floor, Nairobi, which the complaints page names as the place to hand it in.
3. Describe the app in detail, add pictures or screenshots and say where the activity is happening, as the whistleblowing page asks.
4. Name the people or businesses involved and give their contact details if you have them. The whistleblowing page says you may.

On 29 October 2026 the download button for the complaints form and the online forms on both pages did not load. The complaints page also still gives an e-mail address on the domain of the former Betting Control and Licensing Board, which the Authority succeeded under section 6(3) of the Act.

So confirm on the toll-free line which address and form are current before you rely on them. Add the names shown in the chat group and in your M-PESA messages to whatever you send.

How to flag the app in Google Play or the App Store

Google's help page on flagging gives these steps in the Play Store app. Open the detail page of the app, tap More, then Flag as inappropriate, choose a reason and tap Submit.

The same page links to a separate report for apps that break Google Play's Developer Program Policies, and another for apps that break the law. In any of them, name the licensed operator the app imitates and say that its developer name matches no line of the regulator's list.

Apple's App Store page says a problem with an app can be reported directly from the app's product page on the App Store. Open the listing on your iPhone, use the report option there and give the same details.

An APK passed around in a chat group has no store listing to flag. For that file the Authority's whistleblowing form and Safaricom are the main routes, and the Android warnings on betting APK downloads explain why your phone may have flagged it.

Fraudulent paybills and phone numbers: report to Safaricom

Safaricom's fraud awareness page sets out how to report fraud. Forward the fraudster's number or message to 333, contact Safaricom through its official social media pages, and call the police on 999 or 911.

The same page says Safaricom only calls from 0722000000. A caller from any other number who claims to be Safaricom and offers to reverse your deposit is another number to forward to 333.

If you sent money by mistake, Safaricom's tariff page says an M-PESA self-reversal starts when you forward the transaction confirmation message to 456. The page does not say which payment types qualify, so ask customer care on 100 from a prepay line, or 200 from a post-pay line, about a payment to a Paybill.

To see how a genuine deposit request should look, read how the M-Pesa STK push works in a betting app. A recipient that does not match the licensee's name is a detail worth adding to your report.

What happens after you report

The Authority's complaints page does not publish a response time. Keep a copy of what you sent, note the date and call the toll-free line if you hear nothing.

Under regulation 102(1) of L.N. 112 it is an offence to operate or host an unlicensed gambling platform, or to provide the hosting, domain registration, payment processing or technical support that enables one. An individual convicted under regulation 102(3) faces a fine of up to one million shillings, up to six months in prison, or both.

Section 98 of the Act covers anyone who operates gambling without a valid licence. A first offence carries a fine of up to three million shillings, up to three years in prison, or both.

When the fake copies a licensed brand, the real operator has duties as well. Section 68(8) of the Act requires an online operator to keep a customer care centre in Kenya, and regulation 9(2)(d) of L.N. 112 requires that centre to report matters raised by the public to the Authority within two days.

Regulation 9(2)(e) adds that a matter left unresolved after 72 hours, or one the complainant asks in writing to escalate, goes to the Authority. Google and Apple decide on their own listings under their own policies, and neither page cited here gives a timeline for that decision.

What a report does not do

A report does not return money on its own. The self-reversal through 456 and a report to the police are separate steps. The self-reversal starts from the confirmation message, so do not delete it.

A report also does not close the account you opened in the fake app. Change any password you reused there, and do not enter your M-PESA PIN in any app or link a stranger sent you.