Sports betting: Fraud Repression pins tipsters down to false “good tips”

Don't be fooled. The Fraud Repression Agency (DGCCRF) announced on Thursday that it had identified four sports betting advice sites for false “tips”, warning against the practices of these “prognosticators” who have spread in recent years on the Internet.

The General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control had monitored in 2021 and 2022, in conjunction with the National Gaming Authority, the practices of sites offering online sports betting advice. “Out of 11 companies inspected, 4 of them were in breach for having claimed that a product or service increased the chances of winning in games of chance, or due to breaches of pre-contractual information provided to consumers” , indicates the DGCCRF in a press release.

Fraud Repression, dependent on the Ministry of the Economy, specifies that it has transmitted the files of these four companies to the courts. “Certain websites also became compliant during the investigations and others stopped working,” adds the DGCCRF. These “prognosticator” sites have multiplied in recent years, particularly since the health crisis of 2020, a year which constituted “a turning point for online gambling and games of chance”, recalls the Repression of Fraud.

According to its investigation, to lure players, “tipsters” displayed on sites or on social networks “a luxurious lifestyle allegedly achieved thanks to their winning bets, when it is in reality obtained thanks to the money collected through subscriptions. “By suggesting, wrongly, an increase in winnings thanks to their advice, they are misleading consumers,” underlines the DGCCRF, which warns players about these practices and ensures that “particular vigilance will be maintained” during upcoming global sporting events, including the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris in 2024.