Lotto Scam Clears Out Burney Bank Accounts

Police are warning people to be wary of a Spanish Lottery scam which has already caught out several Burnley residents.

People in the town have been receiving letters claiming that they have been entered into a lottery prize draw and have won hundreds of thousands of pounds. The letters handed in to the police have been headed by official-looking logos with "International Lotto Commission" or "Global Lottery Affiliates" banners.

They are then asked to fill in personal information and bank details along with a copy of their passport or driving licence and fax them to a Madrid number, and in some cases, to send a deposit to secure the "prize".

People taken in by this scam have not only found they do not receive any money, but that the fraudsters have cleared out their bank accounts.

Burnley police have been looking into the con, but have been unable to retrieve any of the lost money, which they think is being diverted into funds in Africa.

Insp. Dave Croll said: "We are asking people who get these letters in the post not to divulge bank details or send any money out to these people.

"We do not know how they pick people to send the letters to, and the letters only seem to come every now and again, with a few starting to appear in the area recently. Previously, we have had people coming to us who have been caught by these people, but unfortunately we have never been able to retrieve the money, which in some cases has been quite a lot."

He added: "The best thing you could do with these letters is to throw them straight in the bin."