Consumers are being warned to be vigilant with regards to their junk mail, and not to fall victim to elaborate scam mail, after a case involving an elderly woman highlighted how falling for this sort of scam can lead to incredible levels of debt. The woman reportedly got into thousands of pounds worth of debt as a result of responding to scam letters that were asking her to send money by way of an administration fee so that they could send her the cash that they claimed she had won.

One industry official stated: ‘There is a scam for everyone. They prey on people’s fears or anxieties or exploit their need for money. Once someone has sent off money or personal information showing that they are susceptible to a particular type of scam, they’ll be placed on a ’sucker’ list by the scammers and targeted repeatedly.’

Indeed this seems to have been the case in this instance, as the woman was apparently receiving up to thirty scam mail letters a day at one points, all of them asking her for money. The situation came to light when she asked her son for help because the financial situation she had got herself into resulted in calls from the bank. He then discovered all of the letters, and found out that she had been falling for the letters for ten years – racking up debts of £30,000.

Her son stated: “There was no indication as to how much debt she had got herself into. All she knew was that she was getting letters from the bank and she finally came to me and said: ‘Can you help me out. I went sorting through the house and found carrier bags full of these sorts of letters.”

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