BOGUS lottery draws, phoney competitions and dodgy e-mails are being tackled in Darlington Borough Council's campaign against scams.

For the second year running, the council's trading standards team is running the Scamnesty initiative as part of national Scams Awareness Month, which runs throughout February. Darlington residents can drop any unsolicited mail, or other evidence of scams, into special bins at any of the following places: *Crown Street Library *Cockerton Library *Town Hall reception *The council's customer contact centre *The Public Protection Office at 11 Houndgate The drop-off points will be open from Monday February 2 to Sunday February 15.

At the end of the month, all the evidence will be collected and action will be taken in an effort to prevent others being targeted.

Last year, 139 mailings were collected.

The most common scams were phoney psychics, bogus letters claiming the recipient had won the Spanish lottery and fake health cures.

The total amount of fake winnings which residents were asked to claim was more than £78m.

Andy Scott, the council's cabinet member for health and leisure, said: "People across Darlington are regularly targeted by scams and, sadly, many residents fall for these cons.

"Hopefully, the Scamnesty will help people recognise these scams and not feel pressurised into responding. Many people are suffering during the credit crunch and it can be tempting to respond to a chance to get rich quick, however it is important to remember if something looks too good to be true it probably is."

For more information and advice call trading standards on 01325-388799.