Phishers create phony emails, web sites, and lottery email scams. They pretend to be someone they're not, and lure you into advancing cash, or revealing your passwords and personal information. Yahoo! Mail fights back hard against phishers and offers tips to help you avoid phishing.

A few friendly suggestions for avoiding unfriendly phishers.
Avoiding phishing scams is tough. Phishers know every trick in the book, and they're dreaming up new ones as we speak. So here are some things to keep in mind while you're online:

• Don't believe every warning you read — especially pop-up warnings that appear while you're surfing the Web. Unscrupulous companies use pop-up ads to display false warnings about your computer. Ignore them.
• Do NOT click any button in these pop-ups, such as a "Close" or "No" button, or the "Close" box that may appear in the upper-right corner of the pop-up. Doing this might install a virus or other malicious software on your computer. To safely close a pop-up ad, press Ctrl-W (if you're using a Windows computer) or Command-W (on a Mac computer). You may receive an email that claims to be from a computer expert, warning you of a virus. These are usually hoaxes. Do not follow the steps described in any email unless you're sure the threat is real.
• There is no Yahoo! Lottery. Don't be fooled by people pretending to be Yahoo! and offering cash prizes. We would never send you information about a contest you never entered. 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 any links in it, and never divulge any personal information. Instead, click the "Spam" button.

If you are the victim of a lottery email scam, claiming to originate from Yahoo!, such as the "Yahoo! Lotto Org." or "Yahoo Awards Center," you may report this crime to your local law enforcement authorities. Once you have reported to law enforcement, we invite you to email us your duly filed police report which Yahoo! may use or disclose to help us fight fraud.

By submitting your report, you are authorizing Yahoo! Inc. to share your police report with others, including without limitation, a civil court, administrative body or law enforcement agency anywhere in the world. Yahoo! Inc. is under no obligation to take specific action, and may decide in its sole discretion to take different, or no action. You should not expect to be compensated in any way for your submission. Our acceptance of your report does not create an agency relationship of any kind. If you do not agree with these terms, please do not submit your report. By submitting your report, you are agreeing to these terms.

To submit your police report pursuant to above terms, please send an email to: reportlotteryscam@yahoo-inc.com