OAP loses £24,000 in lotto scam

The woman received a letter claiming she had won a Euromillions prize

An elderly woman from the Aberdeen area has been cheated out of £24,000 in a Euromillions scam, police have said.

The woman, who is in her 70s, was persuaded to contact a phone number after receiving a letter telling her she had won the major lottery prize.

Grampian Police warned it was the latest in a long line of frauds to have hit the north east, which have ranged from fake shares to cloned websites.

It described the scam as a cruel fraud perpetrated against a vulnerable woman.

The woman parted with the money in two instalments, after receiving a letter claiming she had won a substantial prize in the Euromillions Lottery.

'Sophisticated scam'

When she contacted the phone number a man at the other end of the line convinced her to send two sums of money totalling £24,000 into nominated bank accounts to allow her to claim her "prize".

She only realised she had been scammed when contacted by her bank.

Insp Roddy MacInnes said: "This was quite a sophisticated scam in that the second payment was paid into a genuine and unsuspecting British company's account.

"This was used as payment for vehicle parts sent to another part of the world, which in turn were sold on by the criminals."

He advised anyone who receives an unsolicited telephone call or letter suggesting they have either won a huge sum or could make vast amounts of money should be suspicious straightaway.

Do you know the victim, or have you been affected by a similar scam? You can contact the BBC Scotland news website. Click here to send an email.