Search Results: keep calling

I think it originated in the Czech Republic, but there have been versions of it in over 40 countries, though mainly in Europe. How it works is, they usually give you a "Spot the Difference" or "Guess the Name" challenge, and for a small fee, you can call the studio and if you have the correct answer you can win some money. They act like no one is calling and keep raising the prize money. But when you call you get a recording that says they can't connect you at the moment. Occasionally they'll air some callers to make it seem legit, and the "producer" and "host" will even throw hissy fits live on air as this is somehow supposed to make you call them. They would typically hire young girls and pay them over 2000 USD a month and even pay for their housing, all while collecting money from people calling the studio. I've seen some before where someone solved it, but I don't know if anyone ever actually received the prize money. And these shows were running for YEARS, but I know the Czech Republic cancelled theirs after they were exposed by a YouTuber. I don't know if other versions are still running. One Polish girl who used to host it also made a video about it.

But when I was in my grandma's house in Poland, it was on every day for several hours. My naiive ass genuinely believed I was the only person in a country of 38 million people to see the answer. XD But I called them from a pre-paid track phone, so I didn't really care if they took money.

I gave them the benefit of the doubt, as coming from the US it was unfathomable to me that a TV station would be running a nationwide scam like this. Even one Filipino guy was shocked when I posted about this.

The really screwed up part is they were even scamming 12 year old kids.

So, have you ever seen this show in your country? If so, what country? Did you ever call them?