AWOMAN has warned others to watch out after she was targeted by a scam lottery mail-out.

Janis Martin, 55, of Elm Road, Shoebury, received a letter apparently sent from Brussels, and written in poor English, telling her she had won £700,000 on the Euromillions International Postcode Lottery.

The letter required her to call a claims line and post her bank details to an address in Manchester. Essex Police fear thousands of people in the county have been targeted by the scam letter this week.

Mrs Martin said she wasn’t fooled, but feared others might be. She said: “It says the draw was in November, but I wasn’t informed until now because of a mix-up of names, but I’ve never even played this.

“I read it a number of times and there’s mistakes all the way through it – there’s no web address and you can clearly see the writing is faded and not very clever in parts.

“When I reported it, I was told a 90–year-old woman was one of about four people who had reported it that day, but I had visions of an elderly couple losing their life savings and wanted to make sure no vulnerable people fell for this.”

The letter even claims it is supported by the Fifa World Cup, Glasgow Commonwealth Games and National Lottery.

Graham Anthony, Essex Police’s crime prevention advisor, said: “The reminder is never to give out your personal information, especially account details, PIN and signatures to strangers.

“After all, if you haven’t entered, how can you win?

Something that seems too good to be true usually is.”

For more help and information, contact police on 101 or Action Fraud on 0300 123 204.