THREE SHROPSHIRE pensioners have been conned out of more than £150,000 in bogus lottery scams over the past 12 months, trading standards chiefs revealed today.

Shropshire Council’s Trading Standards is probing the scam which has stung two people in the Shrewsbury area and one in the north of the county.

All three victims were aged over 65 and it is believed their details were obtained through the “grey brigade” – an operation of illegal information sharing done over the internet.

The scam has been operating for more than two years and trading standards chiefs fear many more people may have been targeted.

Debbie Cooper, Shropshire Council’s Fair Trading Officer, said: “We believe this is the tip of the iceberg and many victims hide behind shame and humility and never report the scam to trading standards.”

Snowballed

The three victims were hit by phone calls and letters asking them for small amounts of money to claim a lottery prize, said Mrs Cooper. That then snowballed into requests for thousands of pounds for the bogus cash reward, which was then wired to all parts of the globe including south America and Australia.

Mrs Cooper added: “The senders have all sent money via money transfers where scammers wait to collect the money. The scammers bring in several ‘important’ people to convince victims that all is legitimate, they impersonate lawyers, bank managers and customs and excise officials.

“They leave UK phone numbers that are automatically transferred to an answer machine. The scammer then collects the call from another country and rings the victim or brings in another person to convince the victim that the scam is genuine.”

Last year £3.8billion was sent to scammers nationwide and trading standards is urging people to take care when parting with cash.

Mrs Cooper added: “If people are asking you to pay up front any sort of fees then it’s the time to think. In this country we never pay anything up front in things like VAT or any other hidden charges for lottery wins.”

Anyone who believes they have been targeted can contact 08454 040506.

By Alex James