Little Acorn results and a dangerous criminal sting to avoid
Today's Adventure in the Biz Opp Jungle:
'In which Charlie revisits a successful trader from
the early days of The Biz Opp Jungle, hails the return
of the fraudulent email trick and reviews this trading
software: Little Acorns
In a moment, I've got a story to chill your bones...
It's about how scamming thugs can cajole and bully you
into investing as much as £26,000 on horse racing... and
how they can even send round "couriers" in cabs to
menace the money right out of your pocket.
Oh yes, this one's an absolute corker.
But I'll start off today with a quick bit of good news....
Latest Acorn update
Last year I recommended a service called Little Acorns,
a 'low liability laying system'. The aim was to get you
between 7 and 35 times your initial stake without
exposing yourself to high payout liabilities.
This product is the work of a company called ADK
Publishing. These guys are really good blokes who've
been absolutely great at looking after their clients. I'm
well impressed with their honesty and fairness.
(This is rare in biz opp, as you probably know from your
ground-down teeth and permanently clenched fists.)
When I wrote my first review, I quoted some fantastic
feedback from forum users and Biz Opp Junglers who
loved the service.
Then it all went quiet. Not for any sinister reason. I've
just had so much other stuff to talk about I've not had
time to return to it.
Anyway, a few people have written to ask for the latest
results updates. Fair enough. I admit the review has not
changed in a long while. And as we all know, a betting
system is only as good as it's most recent run.
Well, good news. I've got hold of some results from this
year and they look pretty good to me. For those following
the system "to the letter", here's the scores on the doors:
JAN +15.90 pts
FEB +14.18 pts
MAR +22.92 pts
APRIL +21.18 pts
I'll get this information onto my online review as soon as
I get time. However, if you're interested in finding out
more about the service, click here:
Little Acorns
Okay. That's the good news out of the way.
Now imagine that you were phoned out of the blue....
asked to hand over £26,000 to men with fake names and
addresses... and, worse, after fourteen harassing phone
calls, a cab containing a mysterious 'courier' turned up at
your home...
Sounds like a British gangster film plot? Well read on...
When bookie insiders come knocking
The other week one of my readers was telephoned by
two blokes. I daren't name them for reasons that will
soon become clear. In fact, never before have I written
something that could seriously endanger my health.
Mind you, the names aren't important. They admitted
upfront to my reader that they used false names and
addresses.
Why?
Because what they were doing was not in the slightest
bit legal.
The gist of their pitch was that they placed bets for
owners and jockeys by using ordinary punters to slip the
bets under the radar. This way they could avoid
detection for their illegal jigger-pokery. And they wanted
my reader to be their man "on the outside".
My reader says: "They kept insisting they weren't tipsters
and sneered at them as being mugs with no insider
knowledge."
They gave him a bet to place with HIS OWN MONEY
with the promise that a bankers draft for the money
would arrive next day.
The bet won - handsomely.
This seems convincing proof that these guys were onto
something. But it's an age-old con trick called
'funnelling'.
What happens is that our criminal masterminds tell a big
bunch of people about an upcoming race. They tip
different horses in the same race to different people. The
majority who lose the bet will feel angry and let down.
They won't be phoned back.
However those few who win are now targets. Because
they will now more readily believe that our canny
scamsters have genuine inside knowledge.
And so our rogues move in...
My reader was paid a one-off cash sum (worth almost a
grand) as 'commission'. Just for placing a bet!
However, our shady 'insiders' said they wanted their £5K
winnings from the bet returned. (More about this in a
moment.)
Using their first successful tip-off as evidence they had
real inside knowledge, the scamsters made their move.
They promised to give my reader further commissions of
a couple of grand per month for placing 'their' bets with
'their' money. To further entice him, they offered him an
'unbeatable' chance to be in on a 'Bookies play'.
He was to place an ante-post bet on the Derby. Our
friendly criminals told him they already knew that a well-
backed horse would be declared a "non-runner". In this
case the stake monies would be forfeited.
They said they had agreed a fee with a certain
bookmaker for the info and would get £2,700 for every
£1000 invested.
Then came the catch...
Because this was a "sure-fire" opportunity they wanted
my reader to invest £26,000... of his own money.
Yes, you read it right. That's £26K.
They told him his chunk of the profits would total £47K.
This would be payable within 5 days. A very juicy
prospect indeed.
Of course, at this point alarm bells started ringing for my
readers, who says:
"I obviously told them I couldn't and wouldn't risk
thousands. They said there was no risk as they already
knew the outcome."
They kept phoning him and pestered him so much, he
had to tell them that his bank had refused to let him use
his overdraft.
Did that stop their onslaught?
Not on your nelly. They then tried to tell him they'd
checked it all out, and that he could - and should – use
an overdraft to fund this investment.
My reader said:
"Use your own money for betting by all means if that's
what you want to do, but that's not what our overdrafts
are for!"
Eventually, he had to agree to give them the winnings
from that first bet, minus his commission, which totalled
£5,000.
He reports:
"They rang me 14 times over 2 and-a-half days! Trying to
talk me through the process of getting 'their' money - and
investing more in this fantastical scheme."
Honchos in cabs
Once they realised they'd get nothing out of my reader
by intimidating and harassing them, they sent round a
'personal courier' to collect the money.
You can tell at this point that we're now talking about a
serious criminal enterprise.
The courier arrived at the rendezvous in a local taxi with
a "special code word". Like something out of The Third
Man. Graham Greene eat your heart out!
My reader didn't feel he could back out of this without
giving them the money.
"After all it was their 'bet' though placed with my money
at my bookmakers."
My reader was told this money would be invested in their
"special scheme". But he's rightly sceptical....
"I suspect I either won't hear from them again - or they
will try to rope me into a bigger scam. My fear is that
they know my address, phone numbers, and some other
personal details, but thankfully not my banking details."
How to avoid this trap
My advice is never to give any money to strangers over
the phone. They are most likely using 'funnelling'
techniques to endow themselves with credibility.
Even if these guys really ARE bookie insiders who are
using you to make bets on their behalf, they should be
giving you their money, not the other way round.
And wouldn't these well connected denizens of the
underground have enough trusted contacts to place
these bets without approaching strangers by phone?
It's as fishy as a halibut dressed as a salmon eating
kippers on a fishing boat while fishing.
Once you get caught up in this scheme, these guys are
unlikely to let you go without a fight. I mean, fourteen
calls in two days is serious harassment.
My advice is to slam the phone down if anyone tries to
pressure you into any investment - be it stocks, bets or
time shares. And then call the police.
Luckily my reader was quick to sniff a rat and didn't lose
any money. But it's easy to get caught up in the thrill of
winning a bet, and the lure of big money. To stay safe,
make sure you don't let yourself get drawn into a
conversation with people like this. They have a very
convincing patter.
That's it for today. I'll be back with more thrilling
adventures at the weekend.
Later alligator
Charlie Wright
The Biz Opp Jungle