PEOPLE are being conned into thinking they have won the Spanish lottery, trading standards officers in Lancashire are warning.

Unwitting victims can find their bank accounts emptied by fraudsters.

Lancashire County Council's trading standards officers and the police are urging residents not to be taken in by unsolicited telephone calls or letters asking them to hand over money in exchange for "winnings". Chief trading standards officer Jim Potts said: "This is a complete fraud, and our advice to people is to bin the letters and not to respond to any phone calls.

"You have to ask yourself how you can have won a competition that you have not even entered.

"This latest variation on a lottery scam requests that recipients complete a lottery payment processing form' giving full personal and financial details, including bank accounts, supposedly for the payment of winnings by bank transfer.

"Such details can then be used to commit fraud such as identity theft."

Councillor Jean Battle said: "Trading Standards have warned Lancashire residents about a growing number of prize' offers ranging from free holidays' to lottery wins' in the past.

"However, the latest scam claiming a link to the Spanish Lottery is extremely worrying. Lancashire consumers can be misled into paying thousands of pounds on the false promise of a huge lottery payout awaiting them.

"This year in Lancashire, one man paid around 85,000 euros on the assurance that he had won a substantial amount of money on a similar lottery scam.

"This money is highly unlikely ever to be recovered."

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