Possible gambling/identity scam?

Jlawson118

I apologise if I am in the wrong forum/thread for this, but I could really use some advice right now.

So I'm from the UK and my girlfriend is from Bulgaria, I'm stopping with her family over the summer time and I'm into my sixth week now. But there's a guy keeps coming around and he's really dodgy and I think he could be scamming them.
Basically, this guy is Bulgarian too and I found out he mentioned to them that he places bets on matches via UK gambling sites, and 'rarely loses' but there is a limit on these websites, so he wanted my girlfriend and her family's proof of address/identity or something to open accounts in their names and operate them, giving them a cut of money for the favour.

I immediately thought this sounded dodgy, and my girlfriend said that he's been a family friend for many years, he wouldn't do anything like that. And then mentioned that what he does is top secret, which makes it all the more dodgy. But apparently her mum got the payment for him doing it, and he wants her details too but right now she doesn't have them, but she's planning to give her Bulgarian and UK identity for two payments..

Her family are in a situation where they will do anything for money right now as they're in a bad situation, but this practice doesn't seem right, and it worries me that something bad may happen, and why this guy would be doing this, what he would be getting out of it?

I'm currently considering speaking to somebody I know of who used to be one of the main developers for William Hill (the site this guy uses I think) and I was wondering if he may help me and advise me on what I can do, and I was even thinking of contacting William Hill customer services, because whether or not he is scamming my girlfriend's family or not, he is still committing fraud.. I don't know what customer services could do though but if he is committing fraud then he is breaking the law and they could trace him and even shut the accounts down. This guy could be very nice for all I know but every time I see him, he just looks dodgy. He's supposed to be rich but he drives this really old and scruffy car that I can just imagine would disintegrate at 40mph or something..

Any advice? Like is it a known scam? What is he getting out of it? etc.. And again, I'm really sorry if I shouldn't be posting this on here

masonic

It's impossible to say exactly what is going on here - after all, you don't know how much, if any, of what he has told them is the truth. But whatever it is, but knowingly allowing him to commit fraud in their name, and accepting payments for doing so, they are involved in whatever is going on and need to be prepared to be prosecuted alongside this dodgy guy if it comes down to that.

eDicky

Is there any reason for you to believe he is using their identities for online gambling? It could be for something more lucrative perhaps..? 'Rarely losing' at gambling doesn't sound very realistic.

SuperHan

One of my friends at work does this - he has only used his girlfriend's and mum's card to date, but essentially he places matched bets with free bets, and is guaranteed to win (there's a whole board about it on these forums). Once he run out of free bets, he needed to sign up as someone else to get more.

I imagine it's the same thing. It's a risk, but it can be valid.

Biggles

Yes, it sounds like 'matched betting'. The only thing is, you're not 'guaranteed to win', as things can go wrong if you're not careful and who will be the loser then, the gambler or your girlfriend?

Looks like 'top secret' = 'criminal' and you should advise your girlfriend to have nothing to do with it; if she were to want to live here at some time in the future, a criminal record may not help....

fun4everyone

Sounds like fraud by misrepresentation (or false representation) to me. Knowingly giving false details to achieve financial gain. Steer well clear.