A member of the online lottery service LottoFun has allegedly spammed thousands of people using the Web site`s 'tell a friend` option.
LottoFun technical and marketing manager Hanr'e Garbers says the 'tell a friend` service was intended to allow LottoFun members to send a pre-defined e-mail - informing people about the LottoFun service - to no more than five people. "As an incentive, we offer a R15 reward for anyone who brings in a new member," adds Garbers.
However, an oversight on the service meant that a person could place numerous e-mail addresses in each of the five designated fields.
"We suspect that the member put multiple e-mail addresses into each of the fields, so he reached quite a few people." As a rough estimate, Garbers says the man sent batches of between 500 and 1 000 unsolicited messages, reaching a total of around 8 000 people.
It is not yet clear how many new members - if any - joined as a result, and whether or not the man will receive any money from the company. "We have not checked on the situation yet, and we will be considering our options. If we find that he is in contravention of our rules and regulations, then we are in no way obliged to pay him."
Following the incident, LottoFun has e-mailed an apology to all the spam recipients, and has been in contact with the man, says Garbers. "We phoned him and asked about all the e-mails, and he maintains that he only sent the message to friends, relatives and people who have e-mailed him before."
Garbers says he is sceptical about the story, and the company is considering possible legal action against the man. "I highly doubt that, even in this new age, someone would have so many contacts.
"We are looking at our options, but we don`t know if we have any legal footing. If we can take action, we will."
Following the incident, Garbers says programmers are working on changing the site to avoid any possible repeats. "We are recoding the page, so as to eliminate any possibility of sending multiple e-mails."
The update is expected to be launched later today.
LottoFun is an independent online lottery service that allows adult members to play the South African National Lottery on the Internet.
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