Residents of Carmarthenshire are being warned about a spate of scam letters being delivered to homes in the county, claiming people have won £850,000 on a lottery that doesn’t exist.

The letter from Euromillions Commonwealth of Nations Online Lottery asks recipients to contact an Andrew Williams of the Springfield Financial Group, a company which doesn’t exist and to provide personal information to them which could be used for impersonation or fraud.

Any resident receiving a letter from the Euromillions Commonwealth of Nations Online Lottery should destroy it and under no circumstances should they contact the Springfield Financial Group by telephone, fax or correspondence.

Cllr Jim Jones, Executive Board Member for Environment and Public Protection said: “People can be easily be convinced that these letters are genuine, especially at this time of year.

“You have to buy a lottery ticket to take part in any lottery and if you haven’t done so, you can’t win it ! Like most scams, if you’re being persuaded to take part in something that appears to be too good to be true, it always is and you lose out.”