Warning over lottery scam offering £335k to Sidmouth residents

Warnings about bogus People’s Postcode Lottery letters offering prizes of £335,000 have been issued to Sidmouth residents.

Joanna De Remer, of Woolbrook Close, contacted the Herald in a bid to alert others to the scam, after she received a letter on Tuesday.

She thought somebody could be very easily tricked by the letter as it looked very convincing. Her suspicions were only raised because she did not do the People’s Postcode Lottery and because of the logo - which looked like it had been scanned onto the page.

“It is disgusting these types of letters are being sent out to trick people,” said Joanna. “The people who do this are the scum of the earth – they prey on people who are vulnerable. I was shocked they had my name and address. How they got it I don’t know, If somebody was elderly, vulnerable or computer illiterate, they could possibly fall for it.”

A People’s Postcode Lottery spokesman said it was aware illegitimate individuals and organisations would sometimes attempt to use its brand to gain access to information or details supplied by unsuspecting members of the public.

He added it took such matters very seriously and warned anyone who receives one of these letters, phone calls, SMS messages or emails, to treat the communications as scam and ignore them.

The spokesman said: “To be clear - you cannot win a Lottery you haven’t entered. Also, if you are a winner, People’s Postcode Lottery would never ask for payment to claim a prize.”

Residents suspicious of a scam can visit www.actionfraud.police.uk