Just under three years ago I received a call from a contact who knew people in a side of life that is at best described as shady. "Fancy making a few quid?" he asked, and I knew his reply was not going to be legal.
I was told to bet on Forest Green Rovers vs. Grays Athletic in the Blue Square Premier. Rovers would lead at halftime but lose the match — the odds were 22/1. I thanked him for the call and did nothing, believing such information to be pie in the sky. When I checked on the result, Rovers did indeed lead 1-0 at halftime and they lost the game 2-1.
Bookmakers, who have an antenna for unusual betting patterns that makes radar seem obsolete, had suspended betting on the match, saying the betting was "the strangest they had ever seen" with up to £50,000 ($78,600) in bets or attempted bets by hundreds of individuals in an attempted £1 million sting.