Hundred thousands of Britons have become victim of a lottery scam, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) the consumer watchdog warned. According to the watchdog around 140.000 adults fall victim to the scams, costing the general public an estimated £260 million a year.

The OFT said only 6% of the victims report the crime to the police, but the average loss per victim was £1,900. Senior director of OFT’s Consumer Markets Group, Heather Clayton said: “Lottery scams are a serious issue affecting 140,000 adults in the UK each year which is why we want people to recognise the warning signs. Remember that if a win looks too good to be true, then it probably is.” Paul Jay, Head of Information Security at the Camelot Group said: “We never advise players that they have won a prize via an unsolicited letter, email or telephone call and we never ask for upfront fees or personal information. If you haven’t purchased a ticket for The UK National Lottery, you won’t have won a prize, and we would urge players to treat letters, emails and phone calls telling you otherwise with absolute caution.” A spokesperson for the government said the government is working to target online scams in order to protect consumers.