The British High Commission offers the following advice on UK lottery emails:

Beware!

• There are many attempted frauds at present, often by email, faking a UK connection. Some of these apparently UK-based scams are in fact based overseas, but use forwarding addresses in the UK, international email addresses and UK mobile phone numbers. So although scams may appear to come from the UK, the perpetrators are actually based abroad in Nigeria or elsewhere.
• Most offers sent unsolicited by email are fraudulent.
• People who send share offers by email are often fraudsters.
• Any person or company who asks for bank account details online, or by phone are usually fraudsters.
• Any offer of cash – released in exchange for cash or bank account details – is likely to be fraudulent.

Lottery Scams

• All genuine UK lotteries are registered and have websites.
• If you did not buy a ticket, you cannot win a lottery.
• UK lotteries do not email winners or mention amounts won.
• You may get in touch with the Gambling Commission, who might be able to help you. They work with the Office of Fair Trading and other agencies to give advice on lottery-related frauds. Website: www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk 

What to do if you have received a scam email?

• You should not pay any money
• You should not have any further contact with them

It might be tempting to enter in to a dialogue with these people, however you should not. These people are professional criminals; they will seek to exploit you. Even if you do not pay them any money, they might seek to steal or abuse your identity. Your best defence against these people is to ignore them and delete any emails that you have received from them.

What if I have already paid money to an email scam?

• You should report the matter to the South African Police Authorities.
• This is an international crime – investigations must be progressed through the South African police and Interpol.
• The UK police cannot become involved until they have been contacted by Interpol.
• The British High Commission has no jurisdiction to investigate or take out criminal proceedings in South Africa.