General Betting
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I got a message yesterday saying my account was suspended after I tried to place a bet. Betfair have sent me the following e-mail:
I am writing to inform you that your account has been suspended under investigation of Premium Charge avoidance.
Your account will remain suspended for a period of at least 8-10 working days whilst we conduct this investigation. You will be contacted again once the investigation is complete.
Yours sincerely,
Betfair Pricing
I phoned up to ask the helpdesk, the guy I spoke to said he didn't have a full explanation for why my account has been suspended. Then he said my account was suspended by the Investigations Team. He said there is premium charge for people who are consistently winning, and they are investigating premium charge avoidance.
Now I have read about the premium charge before, but never been asked to pay, so I don't understand how there could have been avoidance if I haven't been asked to pay. He refused to provide me with any more information. Then I was directed to "About Us" --> "Betfair Charges" section 7. I noticed that one of the criteria is "You bet in more than 250 markets". I have not - my account has only been open a few weeks and I have bet in only about 120 markets.
I'm really worried. has anyone experienced this before? I asked if I could withdraw the funds in my account, I was refused, saying nothing could be done while the investigation is happening. I have a significant 5-figure sum in my account. Should I just wait until the end of the investigation, or have they made a mistake? Have I done something wrong? I asked if my money was safe, he said absolutely, nobody could touch it, but then when I asked if I would definitely receive my money back at the end of the 8-10 days, he said "I cannot promise that". I'm thinking of going to the police, or maybe getting legal advice.
If anyone has any experience of this/advice, please post here. you can contact me also privately mrcashbetfair at h0tmail co uk. Any help would be really appreciated, I really haven't a clue whats going on.
I am writing to inform you that your account has been suspended under investigation of Premium Charge avoidance.
Your account will remain suspended for a period of at least 8-10 working days whilst we conduct this investigation. You will be contacted again once the investigation is complete.
Yours sincerely,
Betfair Pricing
I phoned up to ask the helpdesk, the guy I spoke to said he didn't have a full explanation for why my account has been suspended. Then he said my account was suspended by the Investigations Team. He said there is premium charge for people who are consistently winning, and they are investigating premium charge avoidance.
Now I have read about the premium charge before, but never been asked to pay, so I don't understand how there could have been avoidance if I haven't been asked to pay. He refused to provide me with any more information. Then I was directed to "About Us" --> "Betfair Charges" section 7. I noticed that one of the criteria is "You bet in more than 250 markets". I have not - my account has only been open a few weeks and I have bet in only about 120 markets.
I'm really worried. has anyone experienced this before? I asked if I could withdraw the funds in my account, I was refused, saying nothing could be done while the investigation is happening. I have a significant 5-figure sum in my account. Should I just wait until the end of the investigation, or have they made a mistake? Have I done something wrong? I asked if my money was safe, he said absolutely, nobody could touch it, but then when I asked if I would definitely receive my money back at the end of the 8-10 days, he said "I cannot promise that". I'm thinking of going to the police, or maybe getting legal advice.
If anyone has any experience of this/advice, please post here. you can contact me also privately mrcashbetfair at h0tmail co uk. Any help would be really appreciated, I really haven't a clue whats going on.
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This happened to me last year. I feel very sorry for you as it was the worst 8-10 days of my life. I also had done nothing wrong as it was just a misunderstanding but they still took $47000 out of my account after it was over. At least I got to keep my account. All you can do is wait
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So obviously you now owe them 47K lol
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so u had done nothing wrong but they took 47k
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what a load of cobblers - BF took $47k out of my account and I had done nothing wrong........
 to the OP I suspect all new BF accounts with a decent bit of activity are being looked at as potential PC evasion accounts. BF just make the rules up as they go along. It would be excellent to have somebody challenge the legality of all this nonsense. |
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If you have recently opened an account and are immediately winning with obvious experience and knowledge of the site then they are sure to be suspicious,particuarly if you are betting/laying in large sums.
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Your account has been open 'only a few weeks' and you have a 'significant 5 figure sum' in your account.
Of course accounts like that are going to be investigated. I reckon they've got more people in the pc avoidance team than on the helpdesk - jobs need to be justified you know |
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Betfair is a closed shop now. Any new customer who wins is now under suspicion. As this will inevitably affect liquidity in the long run we will all pay a price for betfair's obsession with accommodating parasites and cheats.
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I think Betfair are getting themselves into a complete mess. The premium charge system will get deeper and deeper into the mire.
Betfair need to rethink their charging system. All charges need to be deducted at the time of paying out winnings. I don't know the answer to such a charging system that would be fair to all, and I suspect I would be worse off if the system changed. But the premium charge is not good for Betfair's image. It was OK for a short term fix to claw back money from successful punters but its not the long term answer to extracting a fair contribution from all its winners. |
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I totally agree Hazel. The default system should be easy to understand and unfriendly to traders (with possibly a different system applying to ir). More complex systems should be opted into (or forced into) and anything related to percentage of long term winnings should be deducted/rebated after each market (I've already shown them how).
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I WOULDNT GO TO THE UNITED NATIONS THEVE GOT ALOT ON AT THE MOMENT
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as long as "I've already shown them how" is arguing that betting less instead of more is the optimal strategy to battle PC2, he should probably scale back his advisory activity considerably ?!
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as long as "I've already shown them how" is arguing that betting less instead of more is the optimal strategy to battle PC2, he should probably scale back his advisory activity considerably ?!
The bold portion is correct if you confine your activity to your normal markets but that's got sod all to do with what I'm talking about anyway. |
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mrcelebrity are you really serious? You did nothing wrong and they took $47k from your account and you did nothing about it? Why not get the law involved? Or are you taking the mickey?
I am pretty sure I have done nothing wrong, because I have bet in less than 250 markets and have never been asked to pay the premium charge. What really frightened me is during the conversation with the helpdesk the guy said "I cannot promise that" when I asked if I would definitely get my money back. Hopefully it is just a mistake on their part. But if they try and rob my money it is theft and fraud, pure and simple. Surely a regulated & listed public company cant just do that? I could just wait 8-10 days but the fact I have bet in less than 250 markets is evidence enough for them ... they don't need 8-10 days to work that out. This is really making me sick to the stomach. Probably sounds like I am being overly scared & paranoid and most probably they will realise a mistake and reopen the account with full access to the funds, but mrcelebrity's experience (if he is telling the truth?) is scary and I have an awful lot of money in the account. Anyone else have any experience of this? How was it resolved eventually? |
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Within 10 years betfair will be farming customers body parts (NAP).
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is there any chance you may have shared internet access with other betfair users?
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Mr-Cash, are you sure you have never used another BF account?
Sorry for being cynical, but I'd put money on you and mrcelebrity being one and the same. |
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As curlywurly already said, anyone that opens an account, deposits a large amount of money, and wins with PC level consistency straight away, is going to be viewed with extreme suspicion for obvious reasons.
Look at it this way: if about 500 of Betfair's 380,000 active accounts are paying PC2, how many new accounts will be 'born' each week that generate the kind of profits that would put them in PC territory? My guess is that since introducing PC2, Betfair has seen a sudden increase in people opening accounts and making stackloads of money straight away. |
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I have never had another betfair account. I don't think anyone in my family has an account. Also I have only logged in from my own computers, so no shared internet access.
Sent an e-mail to betfair today but no reply. Looks like I have to wait at least another week. |
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It could appear obvious to BF that someone has opened another account to avoid paying PC, but how exactly do they find the original account if the person has taken basic precautions such as a different name, different payment card and bank, different computer, different area.
If BF multi scan thousands of PC accounts to look for a link in the bet types, amounts, frequency etc, even if a link is obvious how do they prove anything? Btw Mr-Cash, apologies if you're genuine, but I can see many factors potentially linking your post to mrcelebrity's, wouldn't it be ironic to blow one's cover that way! |
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I don't think Betfair accuse people of PC avoidance without good reason.
Most PC payers have a certain complexity in their methods and anyone who suddenly appears and starts winning regularly with good methods will be treated very suspiciously and probably rightly so. Without giving too much away Mr Cash can you give us a typical example on how you make your money? Is it all in the same sport or do you trade in play? If you blindly back England in the cricket this summer before the off and never touch it in play or blindly back Manchester football teams to win or back opponents of North London teams in the Premiership I may have some sympathy with your plight. |
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Your account has only been open a few weeks,you have a considerable bank,you must be winning a lot to come to attention and you claim to never had an account before.If your system requires good knowledge of the site-bingo,there's your answer.If your account appears to be too 'lucky' then there is reason to suggest collusion with others.Your opening post gives every impression that you have a winning system of some sort and it has been started about the same time as the latest PC increase__-I think a 5 year old would be suspicious let alone the betfair police.Hope you get all your money back quickly but I cannot believe you are totally innocent in all this.Appologies if I am wrong.
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Betfair's own stupidity have turned them into the Spanish Inquisition. All to accommodate customers they say are bad for them.
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Get On MASSIVE
Date Joined: 25 Jun 03 Add contact | Send message When: 07 Sep 11 02:08 Joined: Date Joined: 25 Jun 03 | Topic/replies: 362 | Blogger: Get On MASSIVE's blog I don't think Betfair accuse people of PC avoidance without good reason. [...] I think a new account winning large sums in a systematic way will be reason enough for them... It is possible for someone to stumble upon Betfair and start making lots of money straight away, but it's so unlikely that it will be flagged as highly suspicious. I made money on here right from the start, but the amounts were initially minuscule. |
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Apologies for my spelling misteak.
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welcome to the hotel betfair., you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave ( with your money)
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This type of thing,in all seriousness,is yet another 'own goal' by betfair.Anyone new to the site reading this will definitely be put off-can't they see all this type of publicity is all bad news.If I was a substantial investor in betfair I would be onto them like a flash-their PR is rubbish.Cases like this should surely be looked at and decisions made prior to contacting customers.This method is totally unsatisfactory and leaves all parties in limbo too long-I thinkthe press would have a field day ,at betfairs expense,if they got hold of this shambles.
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Agree nbdbscms. If they ever do anything to p1ss off the big bookmakers (it's incredible that so far they haven't) their feet won't touch. They'll have all the cheating as propaganda as well as the pc's.
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http://corporate.betfair.com/investor-relations/results-centre.aspx
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So PC payers that decide to call it a day @ 60% are then not allowed to teach their family, friends etc because this will be construed as avoidance ? I mean why not advise/train other people if its not worth your trouble now.How utterly absurd and like feck says a closed shop.
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betfair doesn't want any accounts to win....I wonder how many more million betfair will spend on premium charge avoidance investigations teams
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Well, they aren't stopping winning accounts, are they?
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Good luck Mr Cash, if you've just turned up out of the blue and are winning big on the ggs in running or have some full proof automated money making method then I can see why BF re suspicious and would have a few questions to ask, but if you've just had a bet here and there and have been successful then I think they're pissing in the wind as they wouldn't be able to match it up to another account with any degree of certainty.
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*I'd be tempted to tell them that you were previously a highly successful player on ****, but have recently found it a bit tough recently due to an unexplainable influx of sharp minds so thought you'd dip your toe in on Betfair.
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So if you are a new customer you are not allowed to win? You have to lose? Why Betfair is becoming like the British online bookies. Even the bookies won't suspend your account for 10 days to investigate, they will just restrict your stakes or shut your account.
I have done nothing wrong, I am pretty sure of this. If winning is a crime then what is the point of this site? People need to be made aware of what they do. |
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Mr-Cash, it seems many agree that your circumstances justify some sort of investigation. Maybe you could provide more detail explaining how you arrived, innocently, in this position?
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Betangel owner recently had his account suspended for the similar reason. they tried to suggest he was using his wife's account. after 8 or so days betfair agreed that wife can bet in her own name and he was given all clear.
In the past betfair kept open accounts they suspected of misdemeaner whilst they investigated them. I recall alleged x-factor and horse racing fiddles to name a few. Seems for the premium charge they dont give you the same benefit of doubt. guilty until proven innocent. |
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She can keep her account open but he is not allowed to teach her how to win ??
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Give us an example Mr Cash on a typical market on how you make your money please.
Your failure to do so incriminates you as if you have something to hide. |
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hazel
I read about the betangel bloke is that what happened in the end? That he said it was his wife playing and betfair just accepted it.Seems a bit unlikely but given he is a relatively high profile customer then maybe its conceivable. Any links to the story? |