A PENSIONER who recently lost £29,000 after being conned by racing fraudsters yesterday urged anybody receiving a similar mail shot to “immediately throw it in the bin."
The 79-year-old retired stockbroker from Sussex asked not to be named when contacting the Racing Post, but is anxious to prevent others falling victim to a scam that has claimed countless victims in the last few years.
He responded to a mailing last month from Radcliffe Bloodstock, and after losing £2,300 on his first tip, he was persuaded to make two cash payments totaling £26,700 for what he was told was an ante-post betting deal involving a leading Irish bookmaker that would earn him a £31,000 profit.
Since handing over the money to a so-called courier who visited his home, he has heard nothing.
“Looking back I have been extremely stupid and it is very embarrassing, but I want to warn other people what has happened to me,” he said.
“My advice is that if anybody gets a mail shot like the one I received from Radcliffe Bloodstock which promised 'there is no financial risk to you', immediately throw it in the bin. I wish I had.
“Fortunately I haven't been ruined, but if I can help stop others being taken in and losing money, like I have, it would at least make me feel a bit better. I realise I won't get my money back now, but I want to see these people caught.”
His case is being taken up by the Scambusters team from the Office of Fair Trading, which was given criminal powers in the fight against bogus tipsters this summer, and it is likely both the police and trading standards officials will become involved.
Though supposedly-based in Swinton, Manchester, and signed by somebody who gave the name Peter Ward, the advertising material for Radcliffe Bloodstock is identical in wording to more than a dozen previous mailings, including Stanmore Bloodstock Consultants, Independent Equine Agents, Castleville Bloodstock, Emerald Bloodstock Services Ltd and All England Racing Club.
To illustrate the scale of the problem, the Scambusters investigator who plans to talk to the pensioner today, with a view to setting up a meeting, is also dealing with a woman in the same locality who has lost £5,000 to the same scam.
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