Financial network CNBC is looking into claims that some contestants may have cheated -- or at least engaged in "unusual trading" while playing its much-hyped "Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge."
Bilking a contest is not new; it happened to McDonald's several years ago and also at Taco Bell in the late 1980s, when games were scammed by folks who took thousands and left the companies with
battered public images.
CNBC's idea was to teach contestants to be "aspiring moguls" and about 375,000 people entered, creating more than 1.5 million mock portfolios. Although picks were
made with fake money, the $1-million prize is very real.
"There are always going to be cheaters," says Timothy Sykes, a hedge-fund manager who offered players advice on air. "You can
try your best to make it fair for everyone, but sometimes a few people are going to try to find ways around it." Several contestants have complained that trades made by some finalists violated the
rules, CNBC says, leading it to launch an investigation.
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