Fraudsters failed to hit the jackpot when a Bradford pensioner realised their claims that she had won a Spanish lottery was an indentity theft scam.

Betty Clarkson, 79, of Fairweather Green, received a letter from Euromilliones Loteria Internacional saying she had won 615,810 Euros.

The letter asked her to send her bank details to the Madrid-based company to claim her winnings.

Mrs Clarkson said: "No way was I going to send my banking details.

"Even though I'm nearly 80 years old, I'm not stupid."

She said she wanted to warn other potential victims.

"If you're not wide awake you might fall for the scam," she said. "It's only by reading about the dangers of these things that you become more aware.

"If they want your bank details it's a no-no until someone official checks it out."

Andrew Bibby, principal trading standards officer for West Yorkshire, said: "We have had a substantial number of complaints about this firm.

"We strongly advise people to never divulge personal information to people they don't know.

"Be sceptical about anything which says you have won something when you haven't event entered it."

Consumer Direct, which offers advice on a range of consumer issues, can be contacted on 08454 04 05 06.

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