email scam.internet fraud help needed

[pjm012345]

today i receieved an email from which sounded like a reputable company telling me i had won a substantial amount of money.. however upon doing my research i have found out that this is more than likely a scam.in fact im 100% sure of it.although they didnt ask me any personal details, i did give them my name ,adress,and home phone number.could someone please advice me on what i can now do to minimize any risk.i feel like a right $%�$%
thanks

[ELVIS68]

Although they didn`t ask for any personal details you gave them your name address and home phone number?

Why?

[pjm012345]

i have no idea why i did. that wasnt a helpful answer though.

[ELVIS68]

Is it a Nigerian company?

[pjm012345]

no not nigerian . its a lottery thing.it also uses the name peougeot as in the car.

[ELVIS68]

Ignore anything you get from them and keep your fingers crossed, keep an eye on your bank balance though

[pjm012345]

how could they possibly know how to access my bank balance ?i gave them no details of my bank or details etc..
i only gave my name ,adress and phone number ??

[ELVIS68]

Maybe... but in this day and age anything`s possible

[Ethel]

They can't access your bank account. Even if you sent them a cheque which shows your name, bank account number and signature they still couldn't.

But this is a scam. You haven't even entered a lottery so you much realise that.

Can you please open the headers to the email to see where it originated from - if you don't know how to do that there are good instructions here:

http://www.emailaddressmanager.com/tips/header .html

Everyone who uses email should be familiar with headers.

You are probably going to be bombarded with cold callers trying to flog you stuff you don't want, or even worse get phone calls pretending to be officials who need your very personal details. Be alert when you answer the phone.

If any official from the bank, council or anywhere telephones you, take their name and call the company back to check it is legitimate before discussing anything.

[vehelpfulguy]

>however upon doing my research i have found out that this is more than likely a scam

I would not say "more than likely" I would say DEFINATELY.

In future ignore ANY e-mail that says you have won a load of money, or who want to deposit some money in your acount for "safe keeping", or from some rich person in Nigeria who is trying to get some money out their country.

Now you have given your phone number be VERY careful of anyone who phones you wanting personal details. Dont answer any "survey" over the phone.

Also ignore ANY e-mail that says it is from a bank, pay pal, ebay, bulding society or other financial institution.

Also be aware of ANY e-mail that includes a link to a web site asking you to fill in your personal details. Even if the web site "looks" genuine it is probably a dummy site made to look like a genuine site (this is known as PHISHING).

Also be wary of any post that is delivered by the postman that is asking for personal details or offers any good deals.

To be blunt you have probably now been added to a list of people who the scammers think are "gulible" so now you may get bombarded by all sorts of people (by e-mail, by post or phone)

IN FUTURE TREAT *ALL* E MAILS AS SUSPECT.

Lets face it, if a stranger came up to you in the street and said you had won the lottery would you give them you personal details, I should hope not.

[VillageVicar]

pjm: I can only share my own experience with the subject of fraudulent emails:

http://bigworldsmallboat.blogspot.com/search?q =we%27ve+just+won+the+lottery

At the bottom you'll find some valuable links: I hope they help.

I wish you every success

Fr Bill

[vehelpfulguy]

Forgot one other thing.

Be careful of any e-mails that arrive with attachments.

Scammers often send out e-mails with attachments (pictures, word documents etc) that they SAY are safe but are in fact viruses.

So they may send out an e-mail saying "open this for a Chritmas message from a friend"

It may look like perhaps a simple photograph but if you down load it and "run" it then it will probably be a program that puts a nasty virus on your computer.

Be wary of ANY attachment that arrives, even if it seems to come from a friend or relative. ANY attachment can be a virus.

[UK_Pagan52]

If you dont know who its from than just delete it. Dont fill in any forms of any kind. Some are just to see if your mail is current then you get bombarded with crap. Avoid using Yahoo email as they pass addresses on.They deny it of course. In short if you dont know them. Delete.. Delete...Delete

[squarebear]

I would be wary of replying to ANY emails saying I had won something when I hadn't entered any competition.