Lottery scam warning

People in Ashford, especially the elderly, are being warned about a scam currently targeting the town.

Residents are being sent letters purporting to be from Health Lottery UK telling them they have won hundreds of thousands of pounds and to ring the number given on the letter.

One man who was targeted was Peter Rossiter, from Kennington, whose daughter-in-law, Lou Rossiter, guessed it was a scam.

She said: “I read it and could just see it was a fake from the way it was written and the logo at the top.

“I then asked my father-inlaw if he a bought a ticket and he hadn’t, but an elderly person may have forgotten whether they had or not.”

Mr Rossiter’s letter said he had been chosen as a winner – something that might trick people even if they hadn’t purchased a ticket.

She continued: “My fatherin-law had me to ask about the letter. I’m worried about an eld- erly person that may not have someone to ask and will ring the number thinking they have actually won.

“It’s awful because he’s worked all his life, is hard-working and done everything by the book. It is awful that some people would do this.”

In similar scams to this one, people are told to ring a number and are then told to give their bank details or to even send over money so the winnings, which never arrive, can be processed.

There were some give-away signs that the letter was a scam, including a fake address that was also spelt wrong – saying ‘squre’ instead of ‘square’ -– a signature that did not match the name of Dr D Hoff on the letter, and a badly copied logo.

A spokeswoman from The Health Lottery said: “This is a known scam letter and we are looking into it at the moment.

“Our highest prize goes up to £100,000, and we would never send a letter to a high prize winner.”