An Angus town that hit a £3 million lottery jackpot has been targeted by scammers who claim Lady Luck has come back to stay.
Two neighbours from Brechin won a remarkable £239,663 each after their postcode was picked by the People’s Postcode Lottery this year.
They joined 243 others in the DD9 6 postcode area, with each ticket being worth £8,816, at the House of Dun near Montrose to celebrate the win on April 1.
But organisers and the police have asked Brechiners to be vigilant after it transpired a bogus scheme is claiming the same lottery is back looking for winners in DD9.
The London letter, purporting to come from Ladbrokes Imperial House in Cannon Street, informs the recipient they have already won an amount — to be drawn next month — but must ring a number with bank account details to confirm their identity.
The lottery’s organisers say they treat such impersonation fraud “very seriously” and ask for these claims to be relayed to them.
One woman, who asked not to be named, said she wised up to the scheme quickly but wants others to be aware.
“It said I would win up to £355,000 from the next draw on June 30 so they needed to confirm who I was,” she said.
“As soon as it mentioned account details, I became suspicious.
“I asked my friend who won a lot of money and she said she just got a golden envelope through the post — there was no mention of proving who she was.”
The family of another recipient contacted the local authority over their concerns.
Mark Hodgkinson, Angus Health and Social Care Partnership’s adult protection and review officer, said: “The Post Code Lottery Scam is typical of the sort of scam mail we see all too often.
“In this case the family of the potential victim spotted the scam early so thankfully no harm occurred.
“However many people do fall victim and lose thousands of pounds.”
A spokeswoman for the People’s Postcode Lottery said its brand is sometimes used to earn people’s trust in order to get personal information or bank details.
“People’s Postcode Lottery takes such matters very seriously,” she said.
“If you are at all suspicious then contact our customer service team on 0808 109 8765.”
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Officers would like to remind members of the public that fraudsters are extremely convincing in their approach, taking steps to engage with the victim and win their trust.”
Anyone who has received a scam letter is encouraged to report it to the national fraud reporting centre by visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk.
Later in April, Kirkcaldy residents shared a similar prize pool at Beveridge Park.
