A FRAIL pensioner has lost at least £55,000 over the last fifteen years after being repeatedly targeted by scam artists with up to 60 letters a day landing on his doormat.

The 80-year-old widower was receiving dozens of letters from companies all over the world – each promising a prize in exchange for a sum of money or the purchase of one of their products.

Some companies have been promising large cash prizes for a number of years with ‘just one more purchase needed’ before it can be paid.

And the multi-million pound 'industry' has come under the watchful eye of the National Trading Standards Scams Team (NTSST) which was set up three years ago to clampdown on mailshot scams.

The specialist team has so far identified nearly 200,000 potential victims who appear on so-called ‘suckers lists’ used by scammers.

The man, who is not being identified for his own protection, was hoping the promise of money and prizes would enable to have a life-changing operation.

Speaking from his Hartlepool home, near to the town centre, he said: “I was hoping the promises that I had won a lot of money were true as I have a problem with my legs and was hoping to have an operation to allow me to walk properly again."

And Hartlepool Borough Council trading standards officers issued an urgent warning after the scams came to light when one of the man’s relatives found a letter from the team amongst his unopened post.

Ian Harrison, the council’s trading standards and licensing manager said: “Cases like this are absolutely shocking and heartbreaking. Elderly and vulnerable people are entitled to live in peace and feel secure and should not be preyed on by unscrupulous companies that care for nothing other than making as much money as they can.

“Elderly people often trust what they read and believe someone who says that a jackpot or other prize is just around the corner. Despite this man paying over £55,000 he has never won a prize and from my many years experience I am certain if he paid another £55,000 he still would not.

“This man was writing so many cheques his bank was sending him two cheque books at a time so I will be speaking to both his bank and the Post Office to see what more can be done to help stop this happening to anyone else."

Since its inception, the NTSST team has directly stopped at least £2.7 million from making its way in to the hands of criminals and has supported local trading standards teams to make savings of a further £2.3m over the last three years.

Louise Baxter, NTSST team manager, said: "We really need the public to help us with this – by being vigilant about mass marketing scams themselves but also looking out for relatives or neighbours, particularly those who are elderly or vulnerable. We often find victims who have lost £100,000s over several years; the impact on individuals and consumers is devastating."

Advice is also available from the Citizens Advice Consumer Advice Service - 08454 040506 and Action Fraud on 0300 1232040.