According to the Associated Press, online thieves are ensnaring Oprah Winfrey fans with offers of free tickets to her mega-popular TV Show. But instead of providing tickets to the "The Oprah Winfrey Show", the thieves are stealing sensitive personal information of the unsuspecting fans who repond to their phony offers, officials said.

The thieves send out unsolicited e-mails asking fans to provide personal information, verify financial information or wire money to a third party for tickets to the show, state Attorney General Lisa Madigan said.

The show, which is produced at Oprah's Harpo Studios in Chicago, doesn't sell tickets. The show's audience staff instead takes reservations to attend show tapings, which are free.

Madigan's office couldn't say how widespread the messages had reached.

"With the large number of Oprah's fans worldwide, we are concerned that their excitement at the opportunity to attend a taping of her TV show may result in fans responding to this unauthorized offer," Madigan warned Tuesday in a news release.

The e-mails were reported to the state by lawyers with Oprah's Harpo Productions Inc., Madigan spokeswoman Cara Smith said Wednesday.

"The goal with this alert is to not have any victims, because once consumers respond to this or send money, it's very, very difficult to make them whole," Smith said.

Source: Associated Press