How to Check a PAGCOR Licence: A Step-by-Step Guide for Players

We at CasinoHub checked every step below against PAGCOR’s own websites on 13 November 2026. We are not PAGCOR and do not speak for it.

A PAGCOR logo in a casino’s footer proves nothing. Logos are easy to copy, and PAGCOR has publicly warned that counterfeit PAGCOR certificates are in circulation. The dependable way to check a site is to look it up on pages that PAGCOR itself runs. Here is how to do that in a few minutes, which PAGCOR sources to use, and the warning signs PAGCOR has named.

The short version

1. Search the brand on pagcorguarantee.ph, the checker PAGCOR links from its Responsible Gaming page.
2. Compare the exact domain in your address bar with the domains PAGCOR publishes for that operator in the PDF lists on its Electronic Gaming Licensing Department page.
3. Ignore certificates, badges and “verify here” links that come from the casino itself or from a chat group.
4. If neither the brand nor the domain is on PAGCOR’s lists, treat the site as unlisted and keep your money out of it.

Step 1: Search PAGCOR’s checker

PAGCOR’s Responsible Gaming page tells players to confirm a website at www.pagcorguarantee.ph before they play or pay. That site is headed “PAGCOR-Authorized Online Gaming Websites”. It has a search box and filters by game type, covering e-casino, e-bingo, sportsbooks, specialty and numeric games, online poker, licensed casinos and traditional bingo.

Type the brand name the way it is advertised. If it shows up, use the link on PAGCOR’s page rather than the one you were sent.

Step 2: Match the domain, letter by letter

Scam sites often borrow a real brand and park it on a slightly different address: an added word, a hyphen, a new ending. PAGCOR’s PDF lists tie each brand to named domains. Two of them matter most to players:

• The GSA list with brands and domain names. GSAs (gaming system administrators) are the companies that run online platforms for PAGCOR-licensed gaming venues.
• The licensed casinos’ list of brands and domain names. These are online brands that belong to licensed land-based casinos and integrated resorts.

Both PDFs are linked from PAGCOR’s Electronic Gaming Licensing page. A genuine brand name on a domain that the PDF does not show should still be treated as unlisted.

We keep a searchable copy of these lists in our GSA directory, and our URL checker flags look-alike spellings. Both follow the PDF date shown on each page, so the live PDF on pagcor.ph always wins if the two differ. Changes between list dates are logged on our PAGCOR list updates page.

Step 3: Treat certificates and “verification” links as red flags

Two PAGCOR notices are worth knowing:

• Fake certificates. PAGCOR says entities on Facebook, X, Telegram, Viber and similar channels show fake certificates to look legitimate, and that they may exploit your financial and personal information (PAGCOR notice on counterfeit certificates).
• Certificate generators. A second PAGCOR notice names three websites that produce counterfeit PAGCOR certificates: verification.pagcorlicense.ph, licensing.newwavelicensing.ph and validator.pagcor-licence.ph, along with a long list of reported gaming sites that PAGCOR says it has no connection with (PAGCOR notice on reported websites; the notice carries no date).

In practice: never check a casino through a QR code or link that the casino, an agent or a group chat gives you. Open pagcor.ph or pagcorguarantee.ph yourself.

Step 4: Be wary of “offshore” or “internet gaming” licence claims

Following Executive Order No. 74, PAGCOR announced that every Internet Gaming Licensee and Authorized Provider was cancelled effective 15 December 2024, and that anyone claiming to hold a valid PAGCOR offshore or internet gaming licence is “fraudulent and unauthorized” (PAGCOR offshore gaming notice). Congress then made the offshore ban permanent with Republic Act No. 12312. Our POGO ban explainer walks through the timeline.

The online platforms PAGCOR regulates today are for players in the Philippines: its October 2025 framework says an accredited administrator’s system must not take registrations or bets from abroad. A “PAGCOR licence” presented as an offshore or international licence does not fit how PAGCOR describes its current system.

Step 5: If a link sent you to the CICC “Access Restricted” page

A red notice on blocked.sbmd.cicc.gov.ph means the site has been restricted in the Philippines. Our CICC notice guide explains what that page shows and how to check the brand rather than the link.

What a listing tells you, and what it does not

• It tells you that, on the list’s date, PAGCOR’s PDF tied that brand and domain to an accredited operator.
• It does not tell you that every promotion or “agent” using the brand is genuine, or that the operator will still be listed next month. Lists change: PAGCOR’s 4 December 2025 GSA list named 65 GSAs, while the October 2026 version has 58.
• When an accreditation is cancelled, PAGCOR’s Annex F (approved 10 July 2026) says the platform stays open only for withdrawals, for up to 60 days, and is then switched off (Annex F). If a site you use drops off the list, take your balance out promptly.

For common scam patterns such as look-alike domains and “loader” agents, see our watchlist.

Where to report a fake or suspicious site

• PAGCOR: its notice asks the public to report misuse of the PAGCOR logo or false accreditation claims through PAGCOR’s contact page; the form currently sits at support.pagcor.ph. For account problems with a listed platform, such as withdrawals, access, verification or transactions, PAGCOR’s Responsible Gaming page links an Online Gaming Platform Helpdesk form.
• CICC: PAGCOR’s Responsible Gaming page points reports of illegal gaming sites to the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center at cicc.gov.ph. GMA News reports the CICC hotline as 1326.
• Your bank or e-wallet: call them at once if you sent money or shared log-in details.