Serious Fraud
What's the threshold of money before the SFO gets gets involved? Surely this sort of scam warrants criminal charges?
The premium-rate regulator, ICSTIS, has completed its investigation into allegations against the quiz "You say, we pay", and concluded that Eckoh, which ran the competition, should pay a £150,000 fine for their "reckless disregard for viewers". Punters were encouraged to call up, at a quid a time, in the hope of being selected …
That's what's supposed to happen and it did.
The fact that some Muppets didn't get entered for the lottery surely doesn't matter - in the end one of them was chosen from the set of callers.
What gets me is they're running a lottery on the telly without paying tax. And the mind-numbingly crap programs they produce - which is by far the more important issue.
VAT (and a special gambling tax) should be levied on these calls so that the rest of society can benefit from the Muppets who play these lotteries.
I can't help but think that the viewers of this crap are getting what they deserve.