Warning over People's Postcode Lottery scam

A woman is warning residents not to fall for a scam which tells people they have won a lottery jackpot.

Mrs Margaret Haw, of Church Lane, South Scarle, received a letter, claiming to be from the People's Postcode Lottery, which told her she had won £825,000.

The letter was from a Baron Wheels at 32, London Bridge Street, London and purported to be from a 'government-licensed lottery service agency'. It asked Mrs Haw to contact a Dr Frank Osborne at UK Security Solutions, by calling a London number, to claim the prize.

She was immediately suspicious of the scam, and after researching it online, found that other people who had been sent the letter had been asked to pay a clearance fee of £1,900.

A call to the People's Postcode Lottery confirmed it to be a scam.

A spokesman for the People's Postcode Lottery said: "We are aware that sometimes illegitimate individuals and organisations will attempt to use our lottery's brand to gain access to information or details supplied by unsuspecting members of the public.

"People's Postcode Lottery takes such matters very seriously.

"If you receive one of these letters, phone calls, SMS messages or emails, then we strongly advise the public to treat these communications as scams and they should be ignored.

"Legitimate lotteries, such as People's Postcode Lottery, will not under any circumstances request a payment in order to receive your 'winnings'.

"If you are at all suspicious, then contact our customer service team on 0808 1098765."

The spokesman said anyone who had encountered the scam should report it to the national fraud reporting centre.