A WORCESTER businessman nearly fell victim to a "very big con" after he received a letter telling him he'd won around £250,000.

The letter, claiming to be from the Spanish Lottery arrived at Phillipe Jbilou's hairdressing business from Madrid saying he had won 390,000 euros.

It asked for Mr Jbilou's name, bank details, passport and driving licence.

"They said the money would be transferred to my account," said the 38-year-old owner of Scissorhands, Lowesmoor.

"It came across as a genuine letter, not junk mail. I believed it to be honest.

"It had got proper stamps, a batch number and a telephone number."

On the day he received it, Mr Jbilou rang a telephone number on the letter and spoke to a Spanish man.

"He said it was genuine," said Mr Jbilou, who visited Spain last year but never took part in the Spanish Lottery.

"He congratulated me and said 'you are the winner of the lottery.'

"He said I had to claim the prize before Friday, September 5."

Mr Jbilou, a father of one, took the letter to Trading Standards on Thursday, the day he received it.

Warned

"They said it's a very big con and don't take any notice of it," said Mr Jbilou of Boughton Avenue, St John's, Worcester.

Since the incident, Worcestershire County Council Trading Standards Service has warned local businesses to be careful of three new scams.

A spokeswoman for Trading Standards said the first scam, claiming to be from the Spanish Lottery, told the recipient they had won a large amount of money, but the winnings were with a security company.

She said the second scam began with a phone call from an organisation referring to a group working for young people, and the caller claimed the business had shown interest in sponsoring a publication in a previous conversation.

A couple of days later the business would receive an invoice for the sponsorship fee.

The spokeswoman said the third scam, from a Yorkshire address, began with the receipt of unsolicited goods, and then a subsequent demand for payment.

Anyone targeted by these scams should not pay or commit to anything but call 01905 765399.

For more information visit www.worcestershire.gov.uk/tradingstandards