Online users are asked to be aware of "Tayeb Souami" lottery donation scams. The name of the 47-year-old Powerball Jackpot winner from New Jersey, who won $315.3 million dollars, is being used by scammers in an attempt to trick potential victims into sending money and personal information. The scammers claim their potential victims were randomly selected to receive donations from the lottery winner as part of his charity project. But, Tayeb Souami is not randomly donating money to people around the world.
A Sample of the "Tayeb Souami" Lottery Donation Scam
From: Tayeb Souami <ty.@grace.ocn.ne.jp>
Date: July 31, 2018 at 6:52:07 AM EDT
Subject: Re: OUR DONATION TO YOU
Reply-To: Tayeb Souami - tayebsouami@outlook.com
Hello.
We bring greetings to you in the name of the lord. This message sent to you as a notification that you have been chosen to benefit from our charity project aimed at touching lives and helping those that we can across the world as God has blessed us.
I won the Powerball Jackpot of $315.3 Million on May 19, 2018 and I have voluntarily decided to donate the sum of $98 Million to charity In this project, I try to reach people randomly from different sources and modes so as to touch lives from different angles, Hence you are getting a message here.
You have been listed as one of the lucky recipients to receive $5 Million This donation is made out to you so to enable you to strengthen your issues and mostly to generously help us extend hands of giving to the less privileged, orphans and charity organizations within your locality.
Get back to me on how to receive the donation.
Thanks
Tayeb Souami
Remember, once they (scammers) have received their potential victims' personal information, they will use the information to trick the potential victims into sending money, which they will claim is for some advance fees, which will cover banking and transfer costs, insurance payments or tax that the potential victims need to pay before they can receive the so-called donated money. But, if the victims send their money, the scammers will steal it and may continue to trick the victims into sending more money, with the promise of receiving the donated money the scammers claim they would receive.
Recipients of the Tayeb Souami lottery donation scam emails are asked not to respond to or follow the instructions in them. They should just delete the email messages instead.
It is important to remember that when someone contacts you, claiming that you have won the lottery or you are the recipient of millions of dollars, and asks you to send money in order to receive your lottery winnings or prizes, it is a SCAM. Legitimate lottery companies will never ask their winners to send money in order to receive their prizes or winnings. And, why would lottery winners who are allegedly donating millions of dollars to you, want you to send a few hundred or thousand dollars for banking and transfer costs, insurance payments or tax? Well, the money that the scammers want the victims to send, which the scammers claim is for taxes, bank transfer cost, insurance or other expenses, is what the scammers will steal. And, the victims, on the other hand, will never receive the winnings, prizes or money that they were promised.
So, once you are asked to send money in order to receive money, it is a scam.