Hi party,
It would of been close to 10 years ago when after winning quite a large trifecta got sucked into a tipping service that had the glossy brochures and looked fantastic. It cost me about 4k, was based in qld (suprise suprise)and sent out 3 or 4 tips on a saturday. After about 2 months of mixed results the number that we had to ring was dissconnected. It took me another 2 or 3 months to get the details of the person i was dealing with and he had opened another service in a different name. I sold the debt to someone i know who in turn got the whole 4k back with interest.
On a lighter note, i have been involved in some horses through a nsw chap who is a bloodstock agent as well as a 'professionalpunting' guy who was sending me his selections for a number of years. I never payed for a subscription but believe the prices are fair for what you get. I'm pretty sure he has showed a profit for the last 9 or so years. All results are recorded and sent out each month.
Personally though I find its not quite the same as putting in the work and coming up with your own selections.