"Covers Investment Group" -- an undercover investigation

I'm sure that, like others, you guys are seriously tired of watching the board get spammed by the "Covers Investment Group" idiot (aka "VegasMitch", aka "KyleBalesWins", aka "The Service Report") I ended up e-mailing back and forth with the proprietor of this scam to try to fish as much information out of him as possible. Consider this a public service announcement for all covers members, especially lurkers, who might be actually considering joining his "group."

The guy behind all of this is Kyle Baugues of Bloomington, Indiana. His phone number and address appear to be available online, but I'm not gonna post that stuff here. He actually has a felony warrant out for his arrest in Alachua County, Florida for grand theft and fraud (nice mugshot!).

The following is some of our conversations on e-mail. E-mails from me will be italicized and e-mails from him will be underlined. Any comments I have will be in bold.  Enjoy guys!

Initial communications:

Sounds interesting, have any more information?


A little info about the group, This is our sixth month now. We are currently 7 members strong who put our cash together to make bigger wagers in Vegas. We play the exact same amount and wagers as a "wise guy" in Vegas and have showed a lot of profit doing this. We're looking for a couple more members to go in to see what it's like so when football comes around we wont have any trouble getting a big group together. Right now we're all putting in around $5k each. We are looking for a new person to put up $1000 ($300 upfront and I'll take $700 out of your winnings) You will also be e-mailed the plays daily. Basically we want to show you how great this works in hopes we can put together a smaller/bigger wager group come football season.

All funds are put together to place bigger wagers.

All plays are wagered in Las Vegas

We're currently cashing out every month and all winnings are put together and split between all members.

I love how he comes right out and asks for money right out of the gate despite saying in the initial ad "we are not asking for any money!"

Who are the seven current members? I'd like to know if they are reputable before I could pledge to put up that kind of money.

Plus, I thought that your posting that I saw on Covers said that the group would not need my money?

I do not give out any personal information about an other members. The trial is free and our next two members only have to put up a small amount to show us your commitment.

Are the other 7 members are covers posters? Or did I read that wrong?

Everyone in the group are covers members.

Oh sweet! I love Covers, such a great message board. I know you can't give away "personal" information, but can you at least tell me who the other members' handles are? I will keep it quiet, I promise.

What locations do you guys place your wagers?

I've made a promise to keep all information about any of our members secret, even usernames.

Our wagers are made at the Hilton.

But how can I know I can trust you guys if you can't tell me any of their handles? That's not really "personal" information.

Do you guys only use the Hilton, or do you use other books too? What if there are better lines at another book? Those half point differences can be REALLY important in my experience.

All members will be kept as private partners. Our group bets are always bet at the Hilton no matter what since we have an account there. I place my side bets online using 5dimes.com

OK, no problem, I assume you would keep my identity secret too?

Were both of today's plays made at the Hilton I take it? I like them, they both should be winners.

Note: He initially sent me the following plays in his first response to my initial e-mail (on July 19, 2010): Texas/Detroit over 9.5 (-107) and Colorado -149. 

Yes. Plays are usually made on the overnight line so we get good lines there.

Yes, I will not give out any information about you, however a few of us met in Vegas a couple month ago and you wpould be able to attend on any meet-ups.

Note: I didn't realize the Hilton gave its player -107 juice lines on totals

That sounds like fun, where did you guys meet up? What kind of stuff did you do?

I'm very interested. If I wanted to be a part of the group, what would I have to do again?

I went to get out funds and some came to get their share and we just hungout at the books and bet/drank, had a great time!

To get in the group we would ask $300 up front and $700 taken out of your winnings for $1000 total.

How would I pay?

we take payments via paypal to kbaleswins@gmail.com, send as personal "gift" so there are no fees.

Note: This basically confirms he is the same "Kyle Bales" guy. I pry a little further...

I feel like I've seen that address before. Are you Kyle Bales?

no, he is my contact in Vegas that places our wagers.

Oh, OK. I heard that guy was a really good capper. What's your name?

I think he does alright, my name is Jason.

Do you have a facebook page or something Jason that I can check out? I don't want to sound suspicious, but $300 is a LOT of money to me, I want to make sure whoever I am sending it to first is reliable.

Trust me I understand your concern but we're just here to make money. I tell all new members that you should bet the plays on the side to increase your bankroll and to be sure you make money if we were a scam. We're just honest guys who love sports betting and want to be rich by doing so. Again I don't want to give out anymore personal information until we're sure you're with us. I'm off to dinner and I'll reply back when I return.

Jason,

I am here to make money too, that's why I contacted you. I am down a lot of money over the past few months and really need to win big these next few weeks or else my wife is going to kill me. I'm putting a lot of faith in you and like I said, $300 is a lot of money. I'd just really feel a lot more comfortable if you would place some trust in me to give me some sort of information that I could verify that would show you are legit and not trying to just take my money.

Play these games tonight big to get you started. I'll be back in an hour or so.

Note: If I would have played them "big" as he recommended, I'd be down money for the night!

But what if they lose tonight? I'm totally screwed. I need help and I'm relying on you. Just give me something, anything to check out to prove you're legit and I'll paypal you the money.

Man I can't wait to win big cash

Paypal is 100% legit and we've never had any problems. I'm not claiming we win everyday but always show profit at the end of the month.

Do you have any historical records that I can verify this with?


No I mean do you have anything that tracks the historical accuracy of your picks? I mean I'd like to believe you when you say you guys make money in the long term, but do you have any evidence to back it up?

I could go back through e-mails and make a list for you but how would you know I'm not making it up? It's been a rough couple of nights losing on the White Sox in th bottom 9th Monday and losing in the bottom 9th yesterday on the Rockies but our losses have been under $200 and a winning day nets us around $1500 average.

Could you please go back through the emails and make a list for me? How far back do the e-mails go? I assume you keep records of your plays, right?

Note: No real response to this, so I e-mail again

Kyle how come I didn't get any plays last night sent to me?

Our trial is currently over.

The trial was only one day? I guess you don't want me to invest anymore?

We ran it for three days.

So am I no longer allowed to be part of the group?

As soon as you send your part you can start getting dividends.

Kyle -- I just can't do it yet, I tried to but it didn't work. I mean this is a lot of money we are talking about to me. Can you provide me with anything in good faith that would show the seriousness of the group? Maybe scanned winning tickets from some of your plays? Any sort of info that shows that I can trust you not to just take my money and run?

Note: I call him Kyle here, let's see if he corrects me and says "No I'm Jason" or something...

I understand your concern but without trust it probably wont work out for both of us. I advise you to wager the plays on your own, even if it's small and you will make way more than $300.

I agree, without trust it will not work out. However, you are the one asking me to send you money but unwilling to show any trust to me before I actually put down the cash. That seems unfair?

I don't know what else I can do for you, We're not running out of people who want in the group so I wish you the best of luck.

You can do any of the things I asked you? It sounds like you don't have any of the stuff I am asking for.

And if you aren't running out of people who want in the group, why do you continually post messages on covers asking for people to join?

I'm not giving out any personal information right now as I don't know you. I don't have tickets because I don't make the wagers and don't live in vegas. I post because we're looking for people to go in with us $5k or more this football season as said in the first e-mail.

Note: I got bored with him and decided to tell him I was gonna post all this to covers at this point.

Have fun then, I'm gonna make sure to post our entire conversation to Covers so that no one else gets tricked into sending you money despite your claim in the initial post that you weren't asking for any money.

Did we ask you for money when we send you nothing but winning plays? I never once asked anyone for money. I simply gave you winners and said if you wanted to join let us know. Go tell mommy on us because you didn't get your way. We only want serious members in the group. If it's not for you it's not for you. We're the ones getting paid.

Note: He sent me "nothing but winning plays" that would have resulted in a loss for the day!

I'll see if I can get one of the mods to stick my post with our conversation so no one will fall for your ploy. You didn't send me "nothing but winning plays", in fact you admitted that you sent losers to me. You asked for money right at the outset -- hell, right in your first reply to my initial message.

Vegas Mitc... err... Kyle Bales Wi.... err.... "Covers Investment Group". Guess its time for you to find a new name huh?

And if you were the ones getting paid, you wouldn't be asking random covers members to send you $300 upfront, now would you?

right.... And this will be while you will always be broke, stop acting like a child.

If anyone here is "broke", its the guy spamming covers for $300 "investments" into a "group" that doesn't exist.

Pathetic. I like how you don't deny that you are Vegas Mitch and Kyle Bales Wins... wait, you can't deny the Kyle Bales one, because that's where you asked me to PayPal you the money. I guess too many people caught up to you under those two prior names so you had to go invent a third one, huh?

Note: No response to that e-mail. Funny huh.

https://www.alachuasheriff.org/most_wanted/warrants.aspx?type=Felony

Nice mugshot!

Please people, especially some of you newer posters -- do not fall for these idiot touts. This should show you exactly how they operate.

If I can just prevent one person from giving this guy any money, then I'd say I've met my goal.

nice mugshot douchebag thanks for the info kap

I don't think I can condone posting someone's information on a public thread, so Kapo.......

tsk tsk.

 

 

 

Nice work.

way to go Kap! Finally this scumbag gets his due

Great work Kapono!  Hope  LEO they get this guy....

 Once a felon always a felon.

 Fuck this guy.  Great find Kapono. 

 

Nice job Kap!  Thanks for the hard work.  I have to admit when I first started this years ago I would have been very easy prey for these clowns.  BOL!

jesron -- that's exactly my reason for doing this. I know there are a lot of people out there who dig themselves into a whole, get really desperate for "one big win", or are just really naive when it comes to the whole sports wagering world. Hopefully one of them reads this and doesn't send this clown any money.

Kyle how come I didn't get any plays last night sent to me?

Our trial is currently over.
___________

I noticed this right away.  You call him "Kyle" and he doesn't even correct you.

wow kapono thats ridiculous i cant believe anyone would actually fall for this kind of bull shit on the internet. you have to be mentally challenged to give someone 300 dollars over the internet.

did he ever give you his plays?

the mug shot is hysterical how many years is he doing haha seriously though??

Tile -- he sent me two plays initially, the DET/TEX over (risk 2000) and the COL game (risk 2000 at -160 juice or something). He lost the Colorado game and won the OVER, but would end up being down because he didnt get plus juice on the OVER play.

My favorite part is probably where he tries to say he got a -107 line from the Hilton

entertaining investigative journalism

 douchebag!

wow brilliant work though. this is comedy at its finest on the internet

,,, too funny

good stuff