Do you read 'the small print"?

Doodledog, I’m convinced that those Wordsearch ‘competitions’, where you so conveniently phone in all your details at ££ per minute, was the reason an elderly neighbour was scammed - I know she was addicted to them.

For anyone unaware, there are so-called ‘suckers lists’ drawn from various sources (including I am sure, wordsearch comps) which are sold on to various buyers, inc. of course criminals.

I found all this out after said neighbour was scammed out of over £100k via a ‘lottery’ scam. She was very naive and trusting - must have been God’s gift to the bastards who strung her along for weeks - yet another hefty payment for ‘tax’ on her £1M win, which was ‘coming any day, and they were all so nice and friendly on the phone!’

She only had a landline and had never used the internet, so it was all done over the phone.

We tried to tell her - repeatedly and very plainly, several times, but she wasn’t having it - they were so nice!

It only stopped when her children put a ‘trusted numbers only’ thing on her phone.

To be fair our TV is so small by today’s standards that I couldn’t read the small print if I wanted to. Must get a bigger one in 2023.

Those Aldi adverts used to annoy me, comparing the price of a basket of products bought there with one from a competitor. Aldi’s was full of their cheapest own brand offerings and the other basket with big name products. Then the small print said that Tesco, or whoever, might also sell own brand products that might be cheaper than those shown. You don’t say!

I think Advertising Standards put an end to them.

The one that infuriates me is a wordsearch in which there is a prize of £10k or so - enough to be a big help to anyone struggling, but not enough to put a dent in the profits of the company. The puzzle is ridiculously easy, and there is a clue that completely gives it away, just in case. There is also a second competition that can be entered if you succeed at the first - another wordsearch that's even easier.

The small print shows that to enter both competitions costs about £12.50 per attempt, but the voiceover concentrates on the fact that the call only takes a minute. I can't remember when I last paid for calls by the minute - that is largely irrelevant now - the important thing is the extortionate cost of the entries. There is no indication of the odds either, which I thought would be illegal.

They always screen them during programmes aimed at the elderly, and I wonder how many people with limited eyesight can see the small print, as that is the only indication that it will cost so much to enter. Every now and then there is what appears to be a free entry version, to confuse things further.

I mean I haven’t seen that advert that’s all

It isn't difficult to miss BB. It features a very distinct blue and pink shirt that two sister 'share'. The test I referred to appears towards the end of the ad.

Never seen that nor the advert will have to look out for it