Swedish Social Democrats fined over elderly-targeted lottery telemarketing violations

Sweden’s Gambling Authority (Spelinspektionen) has officially reprimanded the Social Democratic Party (SAP), along with its youth wing SSU and the Social Democratic Women’s Association (S-kvinnor), and issued a 3 million kronor fine ($312,545).

It comes down to how they’ve been managing, or rather not managing, their national lottery, Kombilotteriet, which is operated by Kombispel AB on their behalf. An investigation uncovered major gaps in oversight, especially regarding how the lottery was being marketed and sold.

Sveriges Socialdemokratiska Arbetareparti, Sveriges Socialdemokratiska Ungdomsförbund och Sveriges Socialdemokratiska Kvinnoförbund får en varning och sanktionsavgift på 3 miljoner kronor för bland annat bristande kontroll över spelverksamheten. https://t.co/g3HYvCX2e8

— Spelinspektionen (@lagligtspel) May 26, 2025

Sweden’s Gambling Authority fines SAP over gambling violations

The core problem was aggressive and misleading telemarketing tactics, many of which targeted elderly consumers. The Gambling Authority found that the Swedish Social Democrats and their affiliated groups failed to maintain proper control over these practices, resulting in this significant penalty.

“The license holders have violated the requirement that gambling operations must be conducted in a sound and secure manner with strong consumer protection,” the Gambling Authority stated in its decision (translated into English) dated May 22, 2025.

The investigations got underway after a 2024 media exposé by Dagens Nyheter and a series of consumer complaints reviewed by the Swedish Consumer Agency. There were cases where elderly people were pressured into signing up for lottery subscriptions. Some even received invoices for purchases they never agreed to. And despite clearly telling sales representatives they didn’t want any more contact, many still kept getting follow-up calls.

“License holders exploited the situation deliberately to persuade consumers to purchase their products,” the consumer agency wrote. “This was particularly serious because the marketing targeted older people, who are more vulnerable to intrusive sales methods.”

“The Gambling Authority assesses that the mitigating circumstances do not outweigh the seriousness of the violations. The violations are therefore to be considered serious. Serious violations should result in the license being revoked, unless a warning is deemed sufficient.”

Although SAP claimed that Kombispel was solely responsible for carrying out the marketing, the Gambling Authority made it clear that the ultimate responsibility still lies with the license holders. Even when third parties are brought in to handle operations, it’s up to the license holders to make sure everything stays within the legal boundaries.

“Even if a license holder engages a service provider to manage operations, the license holder retains full responsibility for ensuring compliance with gambling laws,” the ruling noted.

Swedish Social Democrats move to rectify issue

In response to the scrutiny, the Social Democrats said they’ve taken several corrective steps. These include cutting ties with the telemarketing firm involved, bringing in a compliance officer, making leadership changes at Kombispel, and putting a complete stop to using external telemarketing for lottery sales going forward.

The SAP, SSU, and S-kvinnor stated in a joint submission: “The license holders have noted that the media’s review does not provide a complete picture of how the gambling operations have been conducted.”

The party organizations said they’ve now stopped all telephone sales entirely and ended their relationship with the subcontractor they described as underperforming.

They also took further steps by replacing the CEO and several board members at Kombispel, and launching a full review of their marketing practices and internal governance procedures.

Even so, the Gambling Authority determined that the violations were too serious to overlook. They pointed to breaches of key parts of Sweden’s Gambling Act, especially around responsible marketing, protecting consumers, and maintaining proper oversight of gambling operations.

“The violations are deemed serious,” the agency affirmed. “However, as the parties have taken significant remedial steps, a warning and a 3 million kronor sanction are considered proportionate.”

In a separate move, Sweden’s Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer Associations were each fined SEK 500,000 and issued formal warnings for similar lapses in oversight.

In those cases, consumers reported receiving bills for lottery subscriptions they hadn’t knowingly signed up for.

The Gambling Authority stressed that both organizations failed to properly supervise the sales agents they had contracted, leading to the violations.

Featured image: Canva

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