Definition

Why do betting and banking sites block remote desktop software?

Last reviewed 20 October 2026

Because remote desktop software lets someone in one place operate a device that is genuinely somewhere else, so a location check on that device would pass for a person who is not there.

The problem it creates

A location check asks where a device is. Remote desktop and screen-sharing tools separate the device from the person using it. The computer can sit in New Jersey, pass every location check honestly, and be operated by someone in another state or another country.

That is why regulators name it alongside geolocation. Maine’s rule on the subject is titled “Geolocation and Remote Access” (Maine 16-633 C.M.R. ch. 62).

A location check reports where the computer is. With remote access, the person controlling it can be somewhere else.

What gets blocked

Remote desktop tools such as Windows Remote Desktop, TeamViewer and AnyDesk.
Screen-sharing sessions that allow control, in video-call apps or support tools.
Virtual machines and cloud desktops, which can run anywhere and imitate other hardware.

If you are blocked by mistake

Close the remote access or screen-sharing app fully, including any that run in the background after a support session, then try again. Some IT-managed work laptops keep a remote management agent running. Use a personal device instead.

The same problem at work

Remote access is also how laptop farms work: a computer is hosted in one country and operated from another, so it appears to be where the employer expects. See how employers verify where remote employees work.

What this does not establish

A verdict answers for a device, not a person. It says an enrolled device was inside or outside a region at a time. It does not say who was holding it. Use it alongside identity verification, never instead of it. It does raise the cost of cheating: instead of a VPN subscription, a cheater needs real devices and a person in the permitted place for every transaction.