POLICE are warning the public to be on guard after fraudsters attempted a new twist on a bogus lottery-winning scam.

Last week, a pensioner was bombarded with phone calls telling her she had won money on the EuroMillions lottery draw - and was asked to meet someone to collect her winnings.

On Friday, the 81-year-old woman, from the Durham City area, received what police say were numerous telephone calls to both her mobile number and home number from men with Indian accents.

She was told she had won a quantity of cash from a section of the Euro lottery and was asked to go to a named travel agents in Durham City where she would be met by someone so she could collect the winnings.

She was asked to take her passport and £150, which later changed to £550, but instead she contacted police.

An investigation has revealed that if the woman had attended the travel agents she would have been given a reference number over her mobile telephone where she would have been instructed to electronically transfer £550 into a bank account to receive her winnings.

Detective Inspector Nev Carman, of Durham City Police, said: "This is a scam, no winnings would be received.

"Fortunately, the woman reported this incident to us before any money was handed over and we were able to carry out enquiries into it.

"We must stress that there is no secondary Euro Millions draw.

"If your numbers don't appear in the draw or you haven't bought a ticket, there are no winnings to be received".