CNBC's fake Wall Street is too close to reality

CNBC needs to figure out pretty quickly whether people pretending to be Wall Street wheeler dealers emulated their real-life counterparts and cheated to try and win a fantasy portfolio contest which has a $1 million first prize. Otherwise, the network may lose credibility with viewers and advertisers.

The General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) cable channel is conducting an investigation into complaints from several wannabe Jim Cramers, Carl Icahns and Warren Buffetts that some of the 20 finalists in its CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge engaged in "unusual trading in violation of contest rules" according to a statement on its web site. It wasn't any more specific.

For CNBC, this isn't just a game.

When the contest launched in March, CNBC.com saw a tremendous boost in traffic. Page views hit 67 million in April, making it the fifth-highest rated business news site beating more established media outlets including the Wall Street Journal and CNN/Money, according to comScore. On a page views per user basis, it ranks number one.

This is a remarkable achievement and could help off-set CNBC's declining ratings provided that the channel can get to the bottom of this hubbub quickly Advertisers hate controversy and won't pay premium rates if there is a question about a site's credibility.

CNBC has until July 8 to declare a winner.

"Although CNBC hopes to announce a winner before that date, it is more important to ensure the individual awarded the Grand Prize is in compliance with the rules," the statement says.

But if fake Wall Street is anything like the real thing, someone will rat out whomever tried to rig the contest.