Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Italian Mafia Sends Text Messages to Jailed Dons via TV Show

by Caleb Johnson on August 24, 2010 at 09:25 AM

Quelli che il Calcio According to The Telegraph, the Italian mafia has been using a soccer TV show's interactive text messaging feature to communicate messages to imprisoned bosses. As part of the show 'Quelli che il Calcio,' fans send in text messages which are displayed on a ticker, while host Simona Ventura chats onscreen about soccer. Apparently, mafia goons would send seemingly mundane phrases, like "All is well, Paolo," in order to communicate with their bosses behind bars. Prison officials uncovered the scam when they heard a family member of one inmate talking about the texting system to somebody.

Simona told La Republica newspaper, "We opened up a line of communication with our viewers in order to give them direct contact with the show. It proved to be all that I had expected apart from the fact that it was apparently used to send messages to mafia bosses." The host and producers claim to know nothing about it, expressed shock, and claimed, of course, the interactive text messaging feature won't be part of the show when it returns this September.

Tags: crime, italian mafia, ItalianMafia, Mafia, sms, Soccer, sports, Texting, TextMessaging, top, tv

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular