Have you received an email from "Mrs. Theresa Bedford" at "The South Africa Gaming Board E-Lottery Promotions" telling you that "your
email address won in the second category" or something similar, and to
contact "Dr Godwin Thambo" to collect your winnings? It is a
scam. Lotteries don't give money away to people who don't buy tickets - not even
as a "promotion". That's just dumb; it would not motivate anyone to BUY a
ticket! And No legitimate, legal lottery notifies winners via email (see footnote) The scammers may
change the names and details, but it is still a scam!
Below is another example of a fake lottery; this email claims to
be from the "The South Africa Gaming Board E-Lottery Promotions".
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Email address ballot: There is no such thing as a
"computer ballot system" or "computer email draw". No one, not even
Microsoft has a database of email addresses of the type or magnitude they
suggest.
-
Terrible spelling, punctuation, syntax and grammar - Scammers
apparently don't know how to use spell checkers. We assume they
dropped out of school before that class. They use almost excessive and random CapItaLiZAtion.
They often can't even spell "February" or know that "22th" ought to
be "22nd". These scammers usually write at the 3rd grade level.
Being non-native English speakers, they also often get first names and
surnames (last names reversed), so you will frequently see names like "Mr.
SMITH JAMES.", instead of "Mr. James Smith", along with the peculiar usage
of periods (full stops) and spaces or the lack thereof. Real lotteries also proofread their emails
and look and read more professional.
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Using free email account: The scammer is writing to
you from a FREE email account (Yahoo, Hotmail, Excite, AIM, Gmail, etc.). Don't you think a real organization
would use its own email, its own domain and website?
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Keep Confidential - Real lotteries THRIVE on
publicity - they don't want you to keep anything secret - the publicity
causes people to buy more tickets. there is NO risk of "double claiming"
because they can validate where the ticket numbers were sold. The scammer
want you to keep quiet because they don't want the police or
ConsumerFraudreporting to hear about them! It should read: "For our own security, you
are advised to keep your winning information confidential until we have
finished scamming you!"
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Email notification: NO REAL LOTTERY SENDS AN EMAIL TO
NOTIFY WINNERS. Period. Full-stop. End of story. There mere fact
ALONE that you received an email saying you won a lottery is proof that it
is a scam.
The South Africa Gaming Board.
72 New Bond Street , Nelson Mandela Way, Pretoria 015. South Africa.
Your Ref: BAL/198243108/05/DON. Batch: 15/00/4774
Dear Winner:
We happily announce to you the draw of the South Africa Gaming Board
E-Lottery Promotions held on the 19th of March. 2007 in South Africa .
Your
e-mail address attached to an electronically generated ticket, E-ticket number:
56475611545188 with Serial number 19445/12 drew the lucky numbers: 23-6-89-16-54-1, which subsequently won you the E-lottery Prize in
the 2nd category. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of US$2,
500, 000.00 (Two Million, and Five Hundred Thousand, United States Dollars) now
credited to file BAL/198243108/05/DON.
This is from a total cash prize of US$80,000.000.00 (Eighty Million United
State Dollars) shared amongst the first fifty-five (55) lucky winners in this
category "B". This year’s E-Lottery Promotion Jackpot is the largest ever for
South Africa Gaming Board. The estimated $80 Million jackpot would be the sixth
biggest in S.A history due to the 2010 World Cup. The biggest was the $373
Million jackpot that went to two winners in January, 2004 draw of The Big Game
Mega Millions' predecessor.
All participants were selected randomly from THE INTERNET through an
electronic draw system and extracted from over 100,000 companies, and 250,000
individuals. This promotion takes place annually. For security reasons,
you are
advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is
processed and your prize remitted to you. This is a part of our precautionary
measures to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please
be warned.
Your lucky winning numbers fall within our European booklet representative
office in here in South Africa as indicated in our play coupon. In view of this,
release of your US$2, 500, 000.00 (Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand, United
States Dollars) would be processed by our affiliate claim office. Our agent will
immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your prize to you
as soon as you initiate contact with him.
To claim your prize, please contact our claims agent with the contact details
below to process your claims and ensure to include your winning and reference
numbers when filing your claim.
Name: Dr Godwin Thambo.
Tel: + 27-783-701-666
Fax: + 27-866-943-680
Email: go.winclaimsa@yahoo.com.hk
Payment and Release Agent for:
The South Africa Gaming Board.
Note that all claims process must be duly completed early to avoid
impersonation or double claim. Also to avoid unnecessary delays and
complications, please quote your reference/batch numbers in any correspondences
with our designated agent.
Congratulations once more from all members and staff of this program.
Yours Faithfully,
Mrs. Theresa Bedford.
The South Africa Gaming Board Coordinator (E-Lottery Programs).
