A pensioner from the Fylde area of Lancashire has been duped out of £35,000 by "aggressive" conmen running a fake international lottery.
The elderly resident, whose identity is being protected, paid out thousands of pounds in administration fees in a bid to win a multi-million pound jackpot.
Lancashire Trading Standards officers are now hunting the scammers and pushing local MPs to call for the sending of fraudulent post to be a criminal offence.
Officer Steve Brimble said those running the fake lotteries tend to target vulnerable people.
He said: "Contact is usually made by direct junk mail indicating a large lottery win and asking for a small fee or contact details.
"Scammers then begin telephoning the victim, often befriending them, and asking them to send increasing sums of money for the supposed release of payment of the non-existent lottery win.
"Payment is often sent to criminals abroad by electronic money transfer, making it virtually impossible to track them down."
Anyone who believes they have been conned this way should call 08454 040506.
>> Vote in our latest web poll
The full article contains 187 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
