A BLEADON woman is warning people not to be caught out by a lottery scam. Sheridan Barmaki, aged 48, of Shiplate Road

A BLEADON woman is warning people not to be caught out by a lottery scam.Sheridan Barmaki, aged 48, of Shiplate Road, received a letter from La Primitiva Europea saying she had come third in the Spanish Euromillions.Sheridan had recently visited Malaga and thought the scam might have been true.She said: "It said I'd bought a lottery ticket and come third place winning 615,810 Euros."I checked on the internet and the company is known for lottery scams. I'm quite on the ball with things like this, but even I thought it could be possible."It said to fill out a sheet with my bank details, phone number, and next of kin details. They would be getting all of my identity."The company said it was going to put the money into my account. The letter also said they would take 10 per cent of the winnings for administration, which means they could also draw money out of my account."Mrs Barmaki, who is separated and has three sons, reported the matter to the police.She said: "With this information they could create new bank accounts, buy property and do anything they want."I'm really concerned because there could be other people in our area who have received this."The police are warning people not to be caught out by scams. A spokesman said: "There are numerous Euromillion scams operating at the moment."Our advice is that you are not going to win anything if you have not entered it and not to be encouraged to send off any money."Often the letter will say you've won a substantial amount of cash but it requires the winner to send off a payment or deposit to secure the money and they often request a banker's draft. That's probably the last you will see of your money."Under no circumstances should any money be sent to these companies. The best thing to do is put the letters in the shredder.