Lottery scammers targeting the elderly

Mr Burden, a retired Concorde engineer, said: "I didn't like the thought of giving my bank numbers or personal details. The letter was addressed to me and it looked quite official, but I had my suspicions. I do play the Euromillions, but only rarely."

The letter, sent from a company called Euromillion, Lottery International told Mr Burden that he had drawn winning numbers meaning he was an approved winner.

He was told he had 30 days to claim his prize otherwise the entire sum would be returned to the UK board of internal revenue.

Furthermore, he was told to keep this information private to avoid abuse of the program or acts of fraud.

He said: "I was wary of the fact that I was asked to keep this private. My friend, who lives in Staines, received a similar letter so that made me suspicious."

Mr Burden's friend, John Dymott, of Elizabeth Way, Staines, received a similar letter in October.

Mr Burden said: "It seems to me that they are targeting elderly people. John is no fool, he was immediately suspicious. That's what raised my concerns."

The letter came attached with a sheet asking Mr Burden to fill out his bank and personal details as well as information about his next of kin.

Mr Burden is worried residents could fall for the scam, and a spokesperson for Consumer Direct, a Government funded advice service, said: "The best thing to do is to contact your local Trading Standards office. It's best to ignore these letters and throw them away."

A spokesperson for Camelot, which runs the National Lottery, said: "We are aware that there are many organisations that attempt to obtain payment or personal details from people under a variety of pretexts. The National Lottery and indeed other lotteries are sometimes falsely used as part of these scams. To be eligible to win a prize, players must have placed an initial stake."