BetAlert protection guide

How to Protect Yourself

Know the warning signs, understand their tricks, and learn what to do if you've already paid a scammer.

Check an account I've already paid

01 / Start here

The safest moment to pause is before you pay.

What seven years taught us: there is a long distance between what happens behind closed doors in football and what strangers offer on social media. That distance is where scammers operate.

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Recognise the pattern

Six warning signs.
One familiar playbook.

Scammers follow predictable patterns. Spotting them early can help you keep your money and your account safe.

01

Free “accurate” predictions first

They send a few correct free tips to build trust. These may be cherry-picked guesses sent to many people, with follow-ups only to those who received winning picks.

02

Unsolicited direct messages

A stranger messages you claiming to have “fixed information”. Be wary of unsolicited approaches from accounts you have never dealt with.

03

Payment before the match

They ask for money before you can verify the result. After payment, more excuses or demands for additional fees may follow.

04

Extreme urgency and pressure

“The match is tonight. Pay now.” Artificial deadlines are designed to stop you checking the account or thinking it through.

05

“Proof” in screenshots

Winning slips, transfers and testimonials can be edited or taken out of context. A screenshot alone is not proof that a claim is genuine.

06

Hard-to-reverse payments

Requests for cryptocurrency, money transfers or gift cards deserve particular caution. These methods can make recovering money difficult.

If you've already paid

Take the next step, not another risk.

Act quickly. These steps can help limit further harm and may improve the chance of recovering funds.

Report the account

  1. Stop contact and further payments

    Do not send more money, whatever is promised or threatened. Block the account on every platform.

  2. Contact your payment provider

    Call your bank or card provider immediately. Report the payment as fraud and ask whether a chargeback or recall is possible.

  3. Report it to the police

    File a local fraud report. Keep the reference number for any bank dispute or follow-up.

  4. Notify a national fraud authority

    Report to the appropriate authority in your country, such as Action Fraud in the UK or IC3 in the US.

  5. Report the social account

    Use the platform's reporting tools to flag the account and its messages.

  6. Share what happened with BetAlert

    Your report can help others identify the same account or pattern. Tell us what happened.

Paid in cryptocurrency? Recovery can be very difficult. Beware of anyone offering to recover your funds for a fee; this may be another scam.

Where scams appear

Recognise the account, whatever the platform.

Accounts can move or reappear elsewhere. Check the identity and claims, not just the app they use.

Telegram

Channels and groups can be created quickly and made to look established.

Instagram

Follower counts and polished posts can make questionable claims seem credible.

WhatsApp

Group chats and contact names can create a false sense of trust.

Facebook

Pages and groups may display reviews that have not been independently verified.

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Accounts can reach football fans through replies, messages and shared posts.

TikTok

Short winning-claim videos can direct viewers to private chats for payment.

Help protect the next person

Your report could be someone else's warning.

Share the account, the conversation and what happened. BetAlert reviews reports before any public record is created.

Report a scam Search existing records