Consumers warned on postal offers from racing tipster

Consumerline is warning consumers to be wary of postal offers from horse racing tipsters.

As several major horse racing events are scheduled over the next few weeks, Consumerline says that these postal tipsters are particularly busy at present. Several complainants recently have lost between £3000 and £5000 for subscription charges to some of these selection services.

Consumerline’s Jimmy Hughes said: “These consumers were simply taken in by offers of guarantees and claims of past successes.

"The literature that the consumer receives makes great promises. The lists of past winners selected are very impressive and the suggestion that you will get information known to the privileged few is tempting. Some even offer a written guarantee, but anyone can say they picked a winner after a race is over."

The contact is generally by mail shot or sometimes by email. The suggestion in the letter is that the tipster has access to information directly from the racing industry and knows much more about the prospects than would ever appear in the sports section of the papers. To obtain this information requires a fee and once paid the client will benefit from this confidential information.

Mr. Hughes continued: “Offers of guarantees mean little. The only guarantee in horse racing is the uncertainty. No tipster service can avoid that no matter how good the past record or how emphatic the guarantee.

“Many people enjoy a flutter on the races but horse racing is no place for substantial investments. A substantial loss is guaranteed to take away the fun and leave a lot of hurt.”

The Office of Fair Trading has opened an investigation into the racing tipster industry and Consumerline will welcome any information on the issue.

They can be contacted on 0845 6006262.

(JM/SP)