Facebook post costs snooker enthusiast £1,300 in sports betting winnings.
A snooker fanatic, David Gardiner, aged 65, from the U.K., bagged a wager prize of £1,300 (€1,526.20) after staking his bet on Kyren Wilson triumphing in the Snooker World Championship on May 6, 2024. He excitedly shared his bet slip on Facebook moments before the finals' culmination. However, when he visited his betting bookie Coral's outlet the following day to collect his winnings, he received the disheartening news that his bet ticket had already been encashed at a distant Coral outlet 100 miles away from his location.
Facebook Betting Scam Exposed
Gardiner reportedly wagered £100 on Wilson's win over David Gilbert during the Snooker World Championship with 12/1 (12.00) odds. He flaunted his betting slip on Facebook as part of a World Snooker Tour post, unknowingly leaving the door open to potential swindlers.
The very next day, he traveled to his bookie's physical shop to rake in his winnings. Describing the ordeal, his chosen venue's employees revealed that a fraudster had snapped a photo of the slip and swiped his well-deserved payout about 30 minutes prior to Gardiner's visit.
How Gardiner's Winnings Disappeared
Apparently, the criminal used the Facebook post to observe and snap a screenshot of Gardiner's betting slip, which he then utilized to trick the system into paying out his winnings. However, Gardiner couldn't believe it when he realized that he'd been swindled.
"I was embarrassed but it's my own fault. I just didn't think. I was probably just too excited when I realized he was going to make it to the final. I posted it just before he won his semi-final. [...] I beat myself up, but I didn't know that fraudsters could do it without even having the real slip," Gardiner lamented in an interview with the Dailymail.
Coral Stands Firm on Fraud Prevention Measures
When Gardiner urged Coral to cooperate and hand him his substantial winnings in actual cash, he faced rejection from the sports betting conglomerate. In response, Entain, Coral's operator, did not bypass responsibility in this situation. A representative for the company relayed:
To stem cases of such fraud, we advise our clients to protect their bet slips and withhold them from distribution until their winnings have been reaped.– Entain representative, Dailymail
Subsequently, Gardiner decided to report the illicit encounter with police officials. Action Fraud, the U.K.'s Fraud and Cybercrime Reporting hub, took hold of the case. No matter how diligently the authorities search for the culprit, Gardiner's winnings' whereabouts remain a mystery.
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