[MadMaxy]

-
I feel I needed to make this post, because every once in a while I can read here and on some other forums about folks who were scammed - some for really big moneys! - by these online scamdicapper criminals.

@Kingmod:
If you want the good of the people who ever come to this section of the TG forum, please make this thread a sticky.
Thanks in advance, and no hard feelings, though you have given me a lots of warnings because of my posts here, lol...

-------------------------------------------------

How to recognize a scam sports picks service operation

The most easy to recognize a handicapping (paid picks service) scam operation, is when they have customer service you need to call when ordering picks, and then they offer you some special "tailored deals" to "your needs".

They assign you a "customer service representative" or "sports investor expert" (whatever they can call it, lol), who you will deal only with. He's mission is to try to trick you out of maximum money possible. They get there pay as percentage of the money they can con out from the customers!
If it's a smaller operation, or if they find out you have a lots of money and you're a naive newbie, then the owner itself can be the one who deals with you from some point on.

Almost all of these people at the beginning (or they can do this by email, when you sign-up, but they ask for your phone number = big red flag!) will ask you what is your average size wager.

These are the so called "boiler room" operations.

There are the 3 red flags signaling a scammer operation:
(No need to have all the 3 of them, just one is enough to warn you that they are possible scammers.)

They are looking to find out your phone number, the average size of your wager, and how experienced are you in betting (including your dealings with other handicapping firms or individuals).

No matter how they look to find out about these info: they require them at sign-up for free picks or when you buy paid picks, or if you call them for some info you need, etc.

I mean why the f*****k should they care to know your phone number and if your bet size is $10 or $10,000? And that who else you bought picks from, if any, and if your were satisfied or not, and how much you have paid there?

But those who care for these details, have a good reason for it. And you can guess these reasons, lol...

A legit handicapper company never needs any of these info, they have no special tailored picks for different customers, just different packages of picks like: one day, one week, one month, full season, one year; or: all sports (all these variants), or different sports (all these variants); or: guaranteed picks packages (with all the previous variants), non-guaranteed picks packages (with all the previous variants).

All these packages are the same for everybody who is there client, no matter if he's Joe nobody, having $1,000 income per month, or a millionaire; or a total newbie in sports-betting, or a sports betting pro!

Here's another thing you must be careful of:

Never deal with any cappers who have their picks sent to you only by email, if there is no online place where all these picks are posted for each day of picks (after the games started), so everyone can see them as a proof.

This because there are those kind of scam operations which are sending out different sides of the same play to different customers, and no matter what, some customers will still be in profit after a few days, even if the other 75% of all customers started at the same time will be in minus.
And those in profit will reorder, usually at increased priced, because they think these guys are terrific.

This is how these kinds of scams work, using the law of big numbers.

------------------------

Other things you need to consider:

If the main reason of your choosing a capper is his handicapping record make damn sure that those records are 100% honest, verifiable and accurate!
Otherwise that's nothing really to seriously consider...

Be aware that a ton of those so called "handicapper monitoring sites" are totally worthless, because the inconsistent way they monitor the cappers with them, or, which is a lot worst, a ton of them are scamming sites themselves, run by some handicappers/firms or groups of handicappers/firms, who are constantly falsifying the records of those who are running them and those teamed up with them.

The price of picks (packages):

In my book if the price of picks is too high, that's another indication that it's about a scamdicapper.
Serious, legit handicappers charge just reasonable fees, and their goal is to have many clients over the long run.

Opposed to this practice, scamdicappers are in the business of having usually a small number of clients, but with a lot higher fees than the above category.

I won't give any numbers for what I consider "reasonable" fees, because this is a different number for everyone, being subjectively influenced by there own financial situation.
But holy cow people, get a grip for the reality!
Sometimes from what I read here and there, I'm just shaking my head, I can't believe how much are some people paying for some picks...
Hey, they are just picks, even if good ones, even if from a good "handicapping name", they are not diamonds!
-