Hope after lottery fraud arrests

Spanish police and colleagues from America's FBI have arrested 87 Nigerians in and around the capital Madrid.

Those seized are thought to be behind a major operation that has conned at least 1,500 people in Europe, the US and Canada with a postal and Internet lottery fraud, which may have netted more than £10m.

The fraud works by massmailing people to tell them they have won a lottery prize, but need to make an initial payment before they can access their "winnings".

Pensioner Edward Smedley and his wife, Margaret, of Peterlee, County Durham, paid £9,500 - they borrowed the money - to tricksters who told them they had won more than £500,000. They now face having to sell their home.

Detective Inspector Geoff Smith, of Durham Police's economic crimes unit, said he believed the gang who tricked the Smedleys and others in the region may be the same criminals arrested in Spain.

He said six people in County Durham had lost £50,000 to the fraud in only six months.

And he added that there was a possibility that the victims might get some money back.

"The Spanish and the FBI will be trying to seize some of their property and profits. It is a long way off, but it is a possibility.

"I think these arrests should put a stop to these activities for a considerable amount of time."

The Durham force will be sending victim statements to the Serious Organised Crime Agency, so they can be passed to police in Spain.

Det Insp Smith urged people not to fall for such crimes or the so-called 419 fraud in which people are asked to hold money in their bank account for the fraudsters in return for a large payment.

These frauds often involve a sob story about the need to get a large amount of money out of a country to avoid detection by the authorities.

He said people should never send any money and should be particularly suspicious of proposals that involve Western Union Transfers or schemes proposed by people who only give mobile telephone numbers.