No, there is no Yahoo! Lottery

Thu Jul 9, 2009 1:55PM EDT

See Comments (10)

The message goes something like this:

Dear Lucky Winner, This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of One Million United States Dollars Only (US$1,000 000.00) in the YEAR 2008/2009 YAHOO! Lottery Promotion, which is organized by YAHOO! LOTTERY INC, for the introduction and Launching of the new Yahoo! BETA MAIL which all YAHOO! Subscribers are required to switch to.

Sorry to tell you but, as you might have suspected, it's completely fake. In fact, the only thing legitimate about this message is the address for Yahoo!, which correctly appears at the top of the email.

There is no Yahoo! Lottery at all, of course. The message is simply a thinly disguised ruse designed to get you to give up enough personal information about yourself to pull off an identity theft scam of some sort. Most likely, if you reply to the message you'll be asked for bank account information as well, and possibly a payment from your end to "help facilitate an overseas funds transfer." In any case you'll end up poorer, not richer.

What should you do with such messages if you receive them? Simply mark them as spam in your email reader. If you'd like to file a formal complaint about the message, you can do so on this abuse web page, but there's such an overwhelming flood of junk email reported that little is likely to come of your action.

For more information about this scam, Yahoo! maintains a help page regarding the nonexistent Yahoo! Lottery here. Remember that the come-ons may vary (it may be a Sweepstakes or a Bonus Offer tomorrow), but no matter the specifics, these messages are invariably fake.

Sorry about that.

Comments on No, there is no Yahoo! Lottery

Post a Comment

Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.

  • 6 Posted by ronjwhite@sbcglobal.net on Thu Jul 9, 2009 6:31PM EDT Report Abuse

    I get then all the time, Spam time!!!!, I'd be awful rich if i won any of the lotterys,I get then every day.

  • 7 Posted by moneybags48525 on Fri Jul 10, 2009 2:15AM EDT Report Abuse

    I get similar nonsense from Nigeria, especially from FedEx

  • 8 Posted by ymp954 on Fri Jul 10, 2009 7:33AM EDT Report Abuse

    I think we should all reply with fictitious info. and make them work for that spam.

  • 9 Posted by bella77427 on Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:43PM EDT Report Abuse

    BTW I still get those about Microsoft donating a specific sum to an injured child needing surgery. Ofcourse the amount supposedly increases as these emails are circulated further.

  • 10 Posted by alghuri on Fri Aug 7, 2009 2:21PM EDT Report Abuse

    I would like to say thank you for this information because i just got a message such this and i was doubtful of all the story

More Posts: First Prev 1 2 Next Last

Post a Comment

Sign In to Post a Comment

My Tech

Please enable your browser's cookies to activate the My Tech column.

Also on Yahoo! Tech

Computers Home Office Wi-Fi & Networking Phones & PDAs Cameras & Camcorders TV & Home Theater Portable Audio
 

Site Map | Tour | Subscribe to Yahoo! Tech

Question and Answer content at Yahoo! Tech is written by Yahoo! users at Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo! does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any Yahoo! Answers content. For more information, read the Full Disclaimer.

Opinions expressed by the Advisors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Yahoo! Inc. Yahoo! receives no compensation from any manufacturer or distributor nor does it compensate any Advisor for the coverage of any product or service in any Advisor's content.