What is this prize offer? Is it real. I have got a mail :YAHOO BETA AWARD CENTER UNITED KINGDOM,IN COLLABO

Question

The mail :is as following:YAHOO BETA AWARD CENTER UNITED KINGDOM,IN COLLABORATIONS WITH

LONDON MILLION INTERNATIONAL AND AFRICAN LOTTERY PROMOTIONS.

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND GREAT BRITAIN POUNDS STERLINGS (£700,000.00) in the YEAR 2007 YAHOO! Lottery promotion which is organized by YAHOO! LOTTERY INC and HOTMAIL for the introduction and Launching of the new YAHOO! BETA MAIL and Windows Live Mail Beta which all YAHOO! And HOTMAIL subscribers are required to switch to.

YAHOO! & MICROSOFT WINDOWS, arranged and gathered all the e-mail addresses of the people that are active online, among the millions that subscribe at YAHOO!, HOTMAIL and others we only selected THREE (3) candidates as our winners after undergoing the random selection process through Electronic Balloting System (E.B.S) without the candidate applied, we congratulate you for being one of the people selected.

Answer 1

No. There is no Yahoo! Lottery, and we would never send you information about a contest you never entered.

That’s the definition of unsolicited: you never asked for it. It showed up out of nowhere. The message probably also displays two other hallmarks of fraud emails: it appears to be official (with company logos, even links), and it demands urgent action “to claim your prize”, or something similar.

If you’ve received a message like “Final Notification: Yahoo! Mail Winner!” or “Your Email Address Has Won $XX million”, it’s a scam.

Don’t reply to the email, don’t click on any links in it, and never divulge any personal information. Instead, click Spam.

Yahoo! Mail will never request personal information in an unsolicited email.

If you get an email that looks like it’s from Yahoo! but tells you you’re the winner of a Yahoo! Lottery or other contest – and it asks you to email personal information to claim a cash prize or reward – click Spam to dispose of it. You can also forward the suspicious email to [e-mail]. Thanks!

"Phishing" is a play on the word "fishing" — because perpetrators are "fishing" for your private information or trying to find ways to trick you into sending them money. Don’t be fooled! These deceptive emails are used to commit identity theft, charge your credit cards, empty your bank accounts, read your email, and lock you out of your online account by changing your password.

Check out Yahoo’s Security Center for more information on email scams and ways to protect yourself.

Answer 2

This is such a SCAM.  Don't even reply.

Answer 3

How many lottery tickets did you buy in the Yahoo Lottery?

I'll bet the answer is zero. Coincidentally that is your exact chance of ever getting any money from the people who emailed you.

Also if you give them your banking info you will have a zero balance within 24 hours. And if you cash a check for them and send them any money your bank balance will be less than zero when the check bounces.