I thought I would forward on a tipster warning that a couple of thoughtful readers forwarded on to me. I will copy the email verbatim here We would like to warn all members that ‘Anthony Cochrane’, ‘Jonathan Wells’ and ‘Michael Rose Investments’ are all aliases used by a man named Wesley Beagley. Following action by the OFT, the gh Court have granted an injunction against Mr agley prohibiting him from continuing to be involved in the publication of misleading advertisements promoting tipster services. The OFT considered that his tipster mailings were misleading as they gave the impression that the fictitious names used were real people with insider knowledge. His mailings also contained misleading claims about the past success of the tipping service and large profits that members could expect to make.
To read the full article, please go to: http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2008/12-08 I do recommend visiting the OFT article if only to reinforce the fact that these glossy brochures that appear in your mailbox are largely scams. This Welsey Beagle is a prime example of how they operate.
Please take heed and do reread my article on the glossy brochure brigade in a previous newsletter to remind yourself of the tricks used to lull you in. And don’t confuse the legitimate work done by the OFT with an outfit called UK Trade Investigations. My thanks must go to Charlie Wright of bizoppjungle.com, for pointing this outfit to me. Here’s what Charlie had to say:
“You should bin this letter. Recently, you might have received a letter from ‘UK Trade Investigations Ltd’ of 5 Percy Street London. They say that they are trying to help people who have been involved in horse racing or betting syndicate scams. Apparently they’ve “found you on a database”. If you’re willing, they’ll try and get you compensation.
The idea is that you give them consent to investigate on your behalf. They’ll then reclaim the payments you made to dodgy tipping services in return for 20% commission plus £50 legal costs. It’s free to find this out, so many people think, “Yeah, why not, can’t do any harm?” You sign the form and stick it in the post box. Job done. Now you can wait to find out how much money you’ll get back. Soon you’ll get a letter that confirms that there are funds available to you. This can tally to as much as £1300 or more. And yes, YOU can get your mitts on the cash! Well… only once you’ve coughed up for the ‘legal fees’. Only £140. That’s a mere trifle when compared to the huge amount of loot you’ll get in return.
It sounds too good to be true – because it is. It’s wonderful idea. Unfortunately, it’s a load of cobblers. You won’t get your money and you won’t ever see that £140 again. This smells like a classic rip-off. You would never get people writing out of the blue to offer you legal guidance in return for up-front fees. A company like this would be commonly known in the betting industry. It would heralded by thousands of relieved people as a life-saver. But search around for back-up information or an official website, and you’ll find diddly squat. To put a final nail in their coffin, I also found a blogger online who’s done some deeper digging. The domain for uktradeinvestigations.co.uk was registered in Sept 2007 to a Dmitry Ostapchuk. The blogger ran a check on the email server (mail.coddan.com) which resolved to http://www.ukincorp.co.uk. They offer several services including “company formation” and office facilities. Nothing to do with an official, legal investigations body. So if you get any further correspondence from these guys, chuck it straight in the bin.”
Straight to the point. Take your lead from the Office of Fair Trading I think!