Lotto letter scams alert

7:34am Wednesday 23rd January 2008

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A SELBY pensioner has warned residents not to be taken in by a lottery scam, after a letter promising him more than half a million pounds dropped through his letterbox.

The scam was revealed as county council bosses issued a warning to people across North Yorkshire to beware of the lotto fraudsters.

Derek Cumberland, 74, of Escrick, received his letter on Friday.

It said: "This is to inform you of the release of the International Lottery Sweepstake Espana SA program held on January 2, 2008.

"Due to a mix-up of some numbers and names, the results were released on January 13, 2008."

It continued: "You have therefore been approved for a lump sum payout of 715,810 euros in cash."

At current exchange rates, this is £533,551.

But Mr Cumberland was wise to the scamsters' ruse.

"I've never bought a ticket for a Spanish lottery," he said.

"I've not seen anything like this before. I've had letters from Africa, where a guy says he's got loads of money but he can't bank it there, so he's got to bring it over here.

"But it's your bank account details they're after."

He said he wanted to warn others. "There are some people who lose money on them," he said. "I want to say to other people who get letters like this, burn them."

North Yorkshire County Council's trading standards have also cautioned residents - particularly those with elderly relatives - to be on their guard.

Len Swift, the divisional trading standards officer, said: "The only winners in these scams are the people sending out these misleading letters."

He said the latest scam involved a series of letters and phone calls coming from Spain, with one pensioner from Stokesley, in North Yorkshire, recently losing £55,000 to the bogus lottery operators.

"The caller advised the pensioner that she had won a prize in the Spanish Primitiva Lottery, even though she had not entered it," Mr Swift said.

"Trading standards officers have discovered that whilst the El Gordo lottery is genuine, a number of scam operators seem to be sending out letters falsely, leading people to believe that they have won a prize in the Primativa Lottery.

"In order to claim the prize, an up front fee has to be paid so that the money can be released."

He said the fraudsters appeared to be targeting the most vulnerable members of society, who may be more inclined to trust literature coming through the post.

Carers for the elderly and vulnerable should look for danger signs such as dwindling bank balances and talk of an anticipated windfall.