Bulgarian Mobile Operators Face Class Action Lawsuit over Get-Rich SMS TV Games

Bulgaria's Commission for Consumer Protection (KZP) will file a class action lawsuit against the the three mobile operators, M-tel, Globul and Vivacom over an aggressive SMS-based campaign promoting the interactive TV game"Turn Millionaire", KZP's office said in a statement.

A check conducted by KZP has shown that the violations have recurred after a similar scenario unfolded in the beginning of 2011 with the"SMS for Millions" gambling game.

The "SMS for Millions" game, held in the period September 20, 2010 - January 31, 2011, also involved text-message spam distributed by the three telecom operators, an aggressive commercial practice banned by orders issued by the KZP Chair.

According to KZP's Tuesday statement, the organizer of the game, New Games OOD, engages in misleading conduct by failing to disclose essential information about the game's terms of participation and withdrawal.

KZP informs that this is a second offense for New Games OOD which will be countered by a class action lawsuit.

KZP's check into "Turn Millionaire" has shown that the the consumers get tricked into believing that their participation is free of charge while their answers to the questions are being charged.

The deception is also spread through inviting short text messages which create the impression that the consumers have already been singled out for the distribution of awards and all they need to do is call or send an sms.

Up until now, KZP has received 260-plus complaints of consumers, most of them concerning the sms attacks and the hoax that taking part in game is free of charge.

According to accounts of fraud victims, they received text messages or calls from numbers 145 and 1455 of the three mobile operators with invitations to take part in the interactive TV game.

The operator offered them to respond to a series of questions with assurances that it would not cost them any money.

Each response required pressing "1" or "2", which was charged BGN 2.40 each, of which the consumers had not been warned.

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