By Bill Ray for The
Register.
This story has been reproduced with permission.
On the 11 July, Mr G Hazel not only won £250 on a draw at
gr8prizes.com, but the same week he won the same amount at
Txtpromo. A lucky man indeed, but Mr Hazel's good fortune didn't
stop there. The following week he apparently won both draws again,
and the next week another two top prizes went his way.
This was too much for the ICSTIS, which noted: "In the opinion
of the Secretariat, it was unlikely that the same person would have
won three weeks in a row by being randomly selected."
Mr Hazel wasn't limited to winning cash. He could have won an
iPod or a Nokia 8800 – at least that is the impression given
on the gr8prizes website. The reality is, however, that only one
prize was ever awarded each week.
Other complaints about the draw(s) included the use of
apparently unsolicited text messages to promote the lottery, which
failed to contain required billing information.
The companies concerned admitted that the two draws were
actually one, but contended they were marketed to different people.
Those sent promotional messages had opted in on a previous occasion
some time ago, ticking a box agreeing to receive promotional
material, so the messages weren't, strictly speaking,
unsolicited.
Mr Hazel had, apparently, won £250 once, after which the chap
who updated the winner's website had gone on holiday for a couple
of weeks, leading to the apparent multiple wins shown.
The ICSTIS swallowed the opt-in line, and the holidaying
webmaster, but the lack of billing information and the fact that
there was only ever one prize, and one draw, led to fines totalling
£6,500 for mBlox, who hosted the service and £1,500 for Mobizar,
who ran it, with both also receiving a severe reprimand.
© The Register
2006
