RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – With the state on the cusp of legalizing online sports betting, there is a warning about scammers trying to hone in on the action.
In many cases, the scammers are out for more than your cash when you place a sports bet with fraudsters.
Currently, North Carolina doesn’t allow mobile sports betting, but that doesn’t stop scammers who reach out regardless.
“If you see these services advertising special sports betting for North Carolina, that’s a red flag, that a scam,” Nick Hill of the Better Business Bureau of the Eastern Carolinas said.
Because lawmakers are considering an online sports betting bill, these criminals capitalize on what may be confusing in some people’s minds that it’s already okay to bet.
One ploy they use is sports handicappers.
“Recently, the BBB has seen reports of so-called sports handicappers reaching out to individuals via email or social media trying to get them to place bets,” Hill said.
Once you place those bets, the scammers disappear with your money.
“With sports handicapping scams, pretty much like other scams, these people like to be paid in ways that are untraceable or unrecoverable,’’ Hill said.
They don’t want credit cards, instead, they want wire transfers from payment apps.
“While these sports handicappers are typically trying to get your money, if they can get some personal information out of you too, that’s a bonus,” he said.
One victim told the BBB’s Scam Tracker when he tried to get payment for his sports betting win, they demanded a picture of his driver’s license, a photo of him holding his ID and a blank check from the bank.
He lost $628 because the scammer never paid off, Hill said.
When online sports betting becomes legal in North Carolina, you need to safeguard yourself against the scammers who try to masquerade as legit. To do that:
- Use only established and approved betting services;
- Ignore pop-up ads, texts or emails offering betting services;
- Read the terms of service (aka fine print) on any betting service.
ESPN has a list of states where approved sports betting is now allowed, along with an online sports betting tracker.
Once North Carolina legalizes online sports betting it’s going to take several months before systems are up and running to allow those bets. So, between now and then scammers will be very active in trying to rip you off with phony betting schemes.
Even after online betting is legalized in the state, the scammers will continue to operate but will be competing with legit sports betting firms.
