THE family of an 81-year-old York widow told today how she fell victim to a competition firm which repeatedly plagued her for cash.

David Brigham came forward to tell the story of his mother, Rose, after the Evening Press disclosed the methods of such firms.

Trading standards officers revealed that once someone has responded to approaches from firms saying they have won a competition, but need to send cash in order to claim it, their names can be circulated among similar businesses who then target them themselves.

David said Rose, who is 82 next month, became involved about 18 months ago when she replied to competition entry forms and sent in money. "She totally believed everything they said, she's so trusting, she doesn't believe there is this bad in people," said Mr Brigham.

"She just wanted one big pay-off to share with everyone, so she kept sending in money.

"We only found out about it when she had a fall, and we got all her mail.

"She said she had got into the last round, so she would send in the fees, but we told her it was all just a big con."

Mr Brigham then shredded all the competition entries, but the extent of them amazed him.

"There were letters and letters every day, we counted up, one day if she had sent in all the fees she was asked for, in just one day, it would have been more than £100.

"And there were maybe five or six letters from the same companies each week."

But it was not just the letters which gave cause for concern.

Rose was phoned by one of the competition firms and told she had won £500,000, but that she must not tell anyone.

The next evening the man called back demanding £2,950 in "tax" on her winnings, before the cheque could be delivered, saying he would come round to collect the money the next evening.

"Luckily she told us about it," said Mr Brigham.

His wife went round to Rose's home, and when the conman later called, she told him to leave Rose alone.

"We ended up tracing the call to a number in Vancouver, where a lot of the addresses seem to be from, and called them there, telling them to leave her alone," said Mr Brigham.

"But it was a real worry, not just about the money, but also about her safety.

"What if he had a contact over here coming round and demanding the money, it really does worry us."

Colin Rumford, head of Environmental Health and Trading Standards for City of York Council said: "There are many warning signs for scams, such as fees, premium-rate phone lines, promotions from abroad or prizes in foreign currency, and demands to sign yourself or others up to buy goods.

"If a scheme has any of these, then we are 99.9 per cent sure it is a scam, and the best thing you can do is put it in the bin.

"We will be happy to pursue the company who have been writing to Rose, and anyone else who would like to deter these companies can contact our office with the details and we will pass it on to the Office of Fair Trading who deal with these international companies."

Updated: 10:36 Tuesday, July 15, 2003