IT sometimes seems amazing just how many people across East Lancashire, and the rest of the country, continue to fall victim to schemes devised by fraudsters.

However many warnings are issued about various kinds of scams it seems some folk keep handing over cash to people whose sole aim is to fleece them.

Last month we revealed how a Blackburn man had lost £25,000 after giving it to bogus officials for a Spanish lottery.

They had told him they needed the money to cover "administrative fees" before they could process his £300,000 winnings.

Faced with the fact that publicity will now have alerted even the most gullible, these crooks have changed the con. They simply ask for your banking details as part of the admin process so that they can clean out your account.

Working on the basis that it's easier to get people to part with smaller sums, hundreds of people have also handed over smaller amounts of up to £50 a time.

The message has to be that there are all kinds of rogues out to get their hands on your money.

And the only way to evade them is to exercise extreme caution and remember the old adage that there is no such thing as getting something for nothing.