Officers at the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) have shut down a scam letter scheme that could have gained organisers around £35 million each year.

The police raided a Summerset address that was used in the scam which had already made nearly five hundred thousand pounds.

Cheques recovered are currently being distributed back to around 22,000 senders along with letters informing them they have been scammed and warning them to be more careful in the future.

The letters responded to an international lottery scams and fake offers, and were intercepted by the police during a Summerset raid in June before reaching their final destination overseas.

They usually contained £20 each in cash, which leads Soca to believe that this scam could have made the fraudsters over £35  million each year in profits.

‘Be on Your Guard’

Soca’s director of enforcement Trevor Pearce has said: “mass market frauds are often sophisticated and convincing – criminals know just which buttons to press to make people part with money, especially in an economic downturn when we are more susceptible to believing good news.

“In this case, we’ve been able to return people’s money, and although the perpetrators are abroad and outside out jurisdiction, a substantial blow has been dealt to their operation by cutting off this particular channel.

“The most powerful way to defeat the fraudsters though is to ignore them. Quite simply, be on your guard. Don’t be a willing victim for their crime – if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

He also added that people who fall for one scam may find their names on a list that gets sold on to other fraudsters and can end up losing their life’s savings in the long run.

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, has congratulated Soca on their success, adding that it has sent a “strong message” to the criminal network that people are working to stop them victimising innocent people.

She also said: “we will continue to invest in agencies like Soca to enable them to tackle these criminals effectively. The public can be very confident that we are doing everything in our power to make it as difficult as possible for those groups to continue to operate.”

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