South Africans who bet on getting rich quick through portals offering access to foreign lotteries are flushing their money away, and face a R10 million fine or a jail term for taking part in an illegal activity.
However, despite it being illegal for South Africans to play in, or offer, offshore lotteries from inside the country, several sites registered in SA are promoting this service to prospective punters.
A report compiled by law firm Michalsons Attorneys says it is unlawful for South Africans to take part in foreign lotteries through online Web sites from within SA, as these lotteries are not licensed to operate locally. It is also illegal for anyone to promote a foreign lottery to South Africans, says the report.
Michalsons explains that a foreign lottery would have to be licensed by the Lotteries Act, but only one licence is issued at a time, ruling out the chance of a foreign lottery getting a licence. South Africans who play foreign lotteries online from within the country could be fined up to R10 million, or face 10 years behind bars, if found guilty, says Michalsons.
The only licensed lottery in SA is the national lottery operated by Gidani, which launched an online and SMS portal last May.
Calling all punters
Yet, although it's illegal to take part in foreign lotteries from within SA, there are several sites offering tickets for various international lotteries. One, nationallotery.co.za, offers punters the chance to play “Euromillions, Powerball, Megamillions, Irish lotto, Australian Powerball, New York Lotto and the UK National Lottery”.
Another similar Web site, uklotterytickets.co.za, says players can take part in four international lotteries “online in SA and get paid in SA”. The site promises no commission and says “lottery winnings are transfer [sic] into your account”.
There are several more similar sites, offering people the chance to win millions for only a few pounds. Many of these sites provide disclaimers, saying they are not associated, endorsed by or connected to the lotteries for which they purport to act as agents.
Punters face the risk of losing their bids, and any potential winnings, if the sites are not authorised to act as agents for international lotteries, the National Lotteries Board (NLB) warns.
Spokesman Sershan Naidoo says only the NLB has jurisdiction over SA's official national lottery, and can't help punters who have lost money or potential winnings in international lotteries.
Naidoo says, for example, the UK lottery cannot be played online and, as a result, anyone acting as an agent is doing so without the lottery's permission. He says people have lost out on “winnings” when playing these lotteries, and wasted their money too.
The NLB and the National Gambling Board previously warned against “several fraudulent lottery schemes” that operate through various fictitious companies and Web sites. The boards named Golden Rand Lottery, Sunset Games SA and Junostakes, among others, as being fraudulent.
“The National Lotteries Board, National Gambling Board of South Africa, together with the Provincial Gambling Boards countrywide wish to disassociate themselves from these various fraudulent lottery schemes and the public is accordingly warned to be vigilant of these fraudsters,” says a statement.
Risky business
Players who take part in the illegal online lotteries face the risk of losing their money, or having their credit card details stolen, warns Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx. Goldstuck says the sites do not provide contact details, such as physical addresses, which raises doubts as to their legitimacy.
The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act says suppliers “offering goods or services for sale, for hire or for exchange” must provide contact details such as its full name, physical address and contact number, as well as an e-mail address.
Goldstuck argues that a “form or an anonymous info@ e-mail address does not constitute contact details. That is always a powerful clue that they don't want anyone contacting them, not least the authorities.”
“The portals obtain credit card services through third parties, which is an aspect that should be more rigorously policed by the credit card associations,” he adds.
None of the sites ITWeb contacted via details listed on the domain name authority registry, or through anonymous e-mail addresses listed on various sites, responded to a request for comment.
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