Canadian Lotto Max scam has made it all the way to South Africa

CANADIAN LOTTO MAX SCAM HAS MADE IT ALL THE WAY TO SOUTH AFRICA

A lottery email scam purporting to be from a former Canadian Lotto Max winner has found its way all the way to South Africa, where recipients are warning others to be astute.The email chain, which uses the name of former Canadian Lotto Max winner Bob Erb, from British Columbia, offers its recipients the chance to get their hands on a $450,000 trust fund set up after his big $25 million Lotto Max win in 2012. Although Mr Erb did very publicly give generously with his lottery winnings, the reality is that the philanthropist has become much more selective about who he gives to, and only gives to groups and charitable organisations.However, the lottery scam, which supposedly is from Mr Erb, has found its way by email all the way to South Africa, where it asks recipients for sensitive information such as bank details in order to scam its victims out of their own hard earned money. Geophysics lecturer Susan Webb, who teaches at Wits University in South Africa, said that for a minute she thought the email could possibly be genuine.The email contains a link to a video about the generosity of Lotto Max winner Bob Erb ever since his big win, and Ms Webb said that she actually found the video quite inspiring. However, the shrewd lecturer wanted to check things out before she went any further, and luckily Google was her saviour. “I googled Bob Erb to check the video link and the link to the story about the scam came up,” she said of a previous article published by a local BC paper about the Lotto Max scam that had been circulating in Western Canada.She said that this particular scam is very clever, and using people’s personal information it could easily lead to identity theft or worse. With the knowledge that this lottery email is now worldwide, it is worthwhile for lottery players, no matter where you are based, to be aware of it, and be discerning when it comes to emails that seem too good to be true.Purchase your lottery tickets online at Lottery24.com, and you will get clear notifications about your numbers and your winnings.