Sports betting software company, Intervest Global Live Pty Ltd, has stopped an advertising campaign on SeekCommercial after raised concerns about claims made for a horse betting software program called "Trilogics".
Intervest Global has acknowledged, in a court enforceable undertaking, that a number of claims in its advertisements about Trilogics software and how much people had earned from using the software were likely to be misleading or deceptive.
Intervest Global had represented in advertisements:
that it guaranteed that customers would earn $50,000 - $70,000 from home by using the software, when Intervest Global did not offer a guarantee of this nature.
that customers had earned a certain amount of average income from using the software in 2008, when Intervest Global had no basis for making that representation, that it had many customers who had been with Intervest Gobal for 10 years, when again Intervest had no basis for making that representation, and that the software was a franchised business, when it is not a franchise.
"It is fundamental that businesses must be able to substantiate every claim that they make about a product, particularly where claims about earnings and guarantees are designed to lure in potential buyers," ACCC deputy chair Peter Kell said.
"Consumers should be wary of businesses promising big returns from sport or horse betting products," Mr Kell said. "Remember that sports betting is gambling, not an investment, and the ACCC has been contacted by many consumers who have lost money through sports betting products."
The ACCC has been working with the Queensland Office of Fair Trading, Queensland Police, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and the Australian Taxation Office to develop coordinated enforcement and consumer education strategies to tackle these types of sports betting products.
The ACCC can now issue notices that require businesses to substantiate claims that they make. If they breach the Trade Practices Act 1974, businesses also risk being issued with infringement notices of $6,600 for corporations and $1,320 for individuals, under the ACCC's new powers.
