Mr G's Story

"I started getting lots of post to my house from around the world. I knew it was a lot of rubbish but I thought the Aussie lottery ones, they were genuine as I always play the UK Lottery. I started to send them money. It was only small amounts - £10, £15. Always just these small amounts.

The letters kept coming and I kept sending the money. I also started to get phone calls from people who were from these lottery companies. They became my friends. I wanted my ‘big win’ to pay for a back operation. One day, a nice lady from Trading Standards came and they looked at the letters and told me they were nothing but scams.

I didn’t want to believe it because I really genuinely thought I was going to win. When they then sat and looked at it and I sat with them, I then realised that I’d lost everything. I’d lost all my savings. I felt completely devastated. I’m not sure I’ll ever recover. These people who do this are just ruthless criminals."