Kimberly Stamps, Prize Notice Scheme, Arizona 2026

A 48-year-old woman from Gilbert, Arizona, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud as part of a global prize notice scheme that defrauded thousands of elderly consumers across the United States and abroad.

Kimberly Stamps, owner and operator of the mass-mailing scheme, admitted to sending millions of fraudulent prize notices that led victims to believe they had been individually selected to receive a large cash prize. However, no victim ever received a large cash prize, and instead, they were inundated with additional fraudulent mailings.

The scheme operated from 2012 to February 2018, when the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) executed multiple search warrants and the Justice Department obtained a court order shutting down the operation.

As part of her plea, Stamps admitted to buying consumer mailing lists, choosing the fraudulent prize notices, setting the mailing schedule, opening P.O. boxes to collect victim responses, coordinating with printers and translators, ordering cheap trinkets to mail as fulfillment, tracking victim responses, and opening bank accounts to receive victims' payments.

Stamps also admitted to violating a U.S. Postal Service cease-and-desist agreement and consent order reached in 2012, which permanently barred her from mailing fraudulent prize notices.

According to court documents, the scheme stole more than $15 million from victims, many of whom were elderly or vulnerable.

Stamps is the third and final defendant in the charged conspiracy to plead guilty. Her co-conspirators, John Kyle Muller and Barbara Trickle, pleaded guilty on April 12, 2024, and April 28, 2025, respectively.

The USPIS conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Carolyn Rice and Charles Dunn of the Civil Division's Consumer Protection Branch prosecuted the case, with substantial assistance from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada.

The Justice Department urges individuals to be on the lookout for fraudulent lottery, prize notification, sweepstakes, and psychic scams. If you receive a phone call, letter, or email promising a large prize in exchange for a fee, do not respond.

For more information about the department's efforts to help American seniors, visit its Elder Justice Initiative webpage at www.justice.gov/elderjustice.

Kimberly Stamps, 48, of Gilbert, Arizona, faces sentencing for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. The crime occurred between 2012 and February 2018, when the U.S. Postal Inspection Service executed multiple search warrants.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/third-defendant-pleads-guilty-conspiring-global-prize-notice-fraud-scheme