TRADING standards officers tonight claimed fraudsters sending fake letters and emails steal at least £2m from Oxfordshire residents every year.

Oxfordshire County Council's trading standards officers have launched a campaign to tackle con-artists who trick people into parting with their cash by telling them they have won bogus lotteries or prize draws.

And they urged people to drop any suspicious letters in new bins so officials could learn more about the scale of the problem and track down the conmen.

Trading standards group manager Ian Marriott said Government figures suggested fraudsters stole about £2m from 30,000 victims in the county each year.

He said: "The biggest one is the prize draw - you get a letter saying you have won the Spanish Lottery.

"The biggest bit of advice is if you haven't entered something, you cannot have won it."

Carterton resident Patrice Morris, 52, received two fake letters in the past 18 months - telling her she had won the Spanish and EuroMillions Lottery.

She said: "We had to ring a number and got through to a bank and they said we had to send £1,200 to transfer the money.

"I knew that it was a scam straight away. I hadn't done the Spanish Lottery - if I had not have entered it, how could I have won it? But I can see how people could fall for it quite easily."

Trading standards head Nigel Strick said: "Any scam mailings that are dropped in the bins could be vital in gathering intelligence on the latest scams and in stopping the worst offenders from continuing to bring misery to thousands of vulnerable people each year."

Mail can be dropped off at County Hall, in New Road, Oxford, Thame one stop shop, in the Town Hall, and Banbury Town Shop, in Bridge Street; alternatively, post them to Ian Marriott, Trading Standards, County Hall, New Road, Oxford OX1 1ND or send an email trading.standards@oxfordshire.gov.uk