TRADING standards officers are today warning people to be on their guard against banking scams. The stark advice comes after Hintlesham woman Deirdre Beal received a letter telling her she could receive millions of dollars from a dormant account with DBS Sinagpore.

TRADING standards officers are today warning people to be on their guard against banking scams.

The stark advice comes after Hintlesham woman Deirdre Beal received a letter telling her she could receive millions of dollars from a dormant account with DBS Sinagpore.

Mrs Beal, a secretary with The Evening Star's parent company Archant, said: "It arrived in the post with a London postmark and my full name and address.

"My husband opened the letter and told me I would get a share of $13.6million. We knew it was not true."

The letter said: "You shall be handsomely rewarded for your part in this transaction as the people I am working with are prepared to allocate a 20 per cent slice of the total funds for your efforts."

Annoyed and disturbed that the letter had her personal details Mrs Beal said she wanted to warn others not to fall for the scam.

Mrs Beal added: "I am aware of scams but it does annoy me they think they can write to me like this and expect me to fall for it. It is not so funny if you are older or vulnerable.

"I am wise to this but other people might not be. People believe things they get in the post and you hear about people getting caught out. You need to be on your guard."

Jill Korwin, assistant county trading standards officer said: "This is nothing more than a scam. Never believe that somebody wants to give you large amounts of money without there being a sting in the tail.

"The catch here is that the people sending these letters are after your bank details so they can empty the account of your hard earned cash."

"This scam relies on people being greedy and wanting to become rich quick. This will never happen."

For further information relating to this scam contact Trading Standards advice on 01473 584358.

Have you ever been the victim of a scam? Have you received a letter offering money? What do you think? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send us an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk