A CHIEF trading standards officer has added his voice to warnings about bogus letters from Nigeria which promise East Lancashire business people millions of pounds.

Lancashire's Jim Potts warned people not to touch the offer and revealed that some in the south had been duped by an increasingly sophisticated 'con.'

As the Lancashire Evening Telegraph recently revealed, many firms in the area have received letters purporting to be from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company.

They offer the recipient a share of $38 million if the firm gives its bank details and agrees to have the money placed in its account.

Mr Potts revealed one case where a businessman was duped into giving away thousands of pounds.

"If people do show an interest they will get phone calls and even visits from smart-suited executive types who try to convince them that there is a huge amount of money waiting for them, " he said.

"We know of one instance where a small businessman was conned when they arranged for a man to walk out of the Bank of England to make it look like he worked there.

"Four people have been imprisoned but as quickly as they are locked up, more crawl out of the woodwork.

"Apparently some of the people they use are extremely convincing and will turn up in hired Jaguars, Mercedes or Rolls Royces with an entourage.

"If they think you're interested they can be very convincing."

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