THE makers of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? claim a syndicate played the system to scoop at least £5million.
Paul Smith, boss of production company Celador, says he made the discovery while researching for ITV show Quiz.
The three-parter, to be aired over Easter, centres on Charles and Diana Ingram cheating their way to £1million in 2001.
But in a separate alleged scam the syndicate worked out that producers used the Office for National Statistics database to write questions for candidates.
The man claimed to be behind the syndicate, Paddy Spooner, spent months studying answers and could give them to members on another phone line.
To be allowed to join, you had to be a quizzer and pay £500.
Members were available for the “phone a friend” lifeline given by host Chris Tarrant.
In the third episode, Spooner meets Smith in a pub, which happened in real life, and tells him: “It is not illegal what we do. They were vulnerabilities that you left in your own system.”
Smith told the Mail on Sunday: “We were naive. We believed people would play the game in the spirit it was intended.”
Writer James Graham said: “Paul was shocked to realise one in every 10 pounds he gave away went to this operation.”
There were claims phones and pagers also helped guide Ingram but none of it was proven.
