A WOMAN in her 90s has been conned out of £60,000 by bogus lotteries and competitions run from abroad.

Trading standards officers say they are staggered by the case but have warned that it is not an isolated incident.

The woman, who does not want to be named, is from the Whitby area of North Yorkshire.

For the past ten years, she has been responding to letters from the US and Canada asking her to send £15 to £20 in the hope of receiving a large cash payment.

In return, all she has received has been cheap gifts and worthless jewellery.

The woman almost fell prey to another scam when a telephone caller told her to send £400 to process a lottery win from the US.

North Yorkshire County Council's trading standards department was alerted to her plight by a GP and a friend, who noticed the unusually large amount of mail she was receiving.

When officers visited her home they found boxes of letters and packages from the fraud.

Divisional trading standards officer Len Swift said: "We are staggered by this case. The lady is in very good health. She is physically and mentally all right, apart from the fact that she likes doing this.

"She is quite fortunate in that she does have quite a substantial private income.

"This is probably the worst example that we have had, but it is not an isolated example.

"We have even heard of people who have been selling furniture so that they can get the money to pay for this.

"We are not dealing with people who are silly or confused or vulnerable. It is a compulsion and that is why it is insidious."

Trading standards officers are working with the woman's relatives to try to stop her sending money.

The case has been reported to the Office of Fair Trading, and authorities in the relevant countries have taken action against some of the people involved.

North Yorkshire county councillor Carl Les, executive member for trading standards, said: "I would urge anyone who has contact with the elderly - be they relatives, doctors, carers or staff at post offices where people get their pensions - to keep an eye out for this type of scam.

"Evidence shows that people repeatedly fall for these scams because they believe that their big prize or win will arrive one day. It usually needs a third person stepping in to stop that process."

There is evidence that replying to only one of these letters can result in your name being added to what is known in the trade as the "sucker list".

The Office of Fair Trading found a marketing company selling a list of 80,000 names of pensioners who had responded to prize draw solicitations for £16,000 on the Internet.