Millions of pounds remain in abandoned UK gambling accounts

The UK government began an investigation in mid 2010 into the online betting accounts of its residents and the results were recently delivered to John Penrose, Minister for Tourism and Heritage which is part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The report acknowledged there could be millions of pounds dormant in online gambling accounts. The government wants to collect the funds from abandoned online gambling accounts and use the revenue to benefit social causes such as the improvement of public sports facilities and other sporting initiatives.

During the course of the investigation, online gambling players in the UK disclosed that some online gambling operators make it difficult for players to withdraw funds from their online accounts. As a result of the investigation, the industry in the UK may be forced to make operators change their procedures to make it easier for customers to withdraw from their online betting accounts in the future.

Many countries face the same dilemma when it comes to regulating safe websites. In the meantime, the government proposes recovering these ‘lost’ funds to reinforce social programs that will benefit all residents in the UK.

In response to critics who oppose the proposal, the government assures UK residents will be able to reclaim funds from these online betting accounts at any time upon proving ownership to the money. There is even the possibility that the money could be used to foster some programs that could help people with gambling problems since that is one of the issues facing the popular internet activity.