PENSIONER Dorothy Savage has got used to "winning" vast sums of money.

Over the past couple of months, she has received letters from all over the world telling her:

<bullet/> She has won $2,500,000 in the Australian lottery

<bullet/> She is a candidate to win £361,681 in a prize draw

<bullet/> She has been identified for a share in a guaranteed Government pay out worth up to £100 million.

The Australian lottery letter began: "Dear Mrs Savage. YOU HAVE DONE IT AT LAST! You are now rich for life Dorothy M Savage beyond your wildest dreams."

She tended to ignore the letters, especially when a note at the top of the Australian letter added helpfully: "This is a sample winners letter. An authentic winners' letter will be sent when you are a first prize winner."

But when she received a phone call last week, allegedly from Canada, telling her she had won £5,000 and would get another £5,000 per month for the rest of the year, she thought her luck might finally be in.

Until she was told she just needed to pay a £749 authorisation to begin collecting her winnings.

Mrs Savage, who lives off Beckfield Lane, Boroughbridge Road, said she had sent off a cheque for £5 last October, along with a registration form, after receiving a letter saying she had won £10,000 in a grand prize draw.

She heard nothing more until last week, when she first got call from a woman with a Canadian accent, who said her name was going in a draw that night, adding: "One of our adjudicators will call you tomorrow if you have won."

Mrs Savage said she thought nothing more about it until a man with a Canadian accent rang the next day to told her she had won a third prize, and she would be getting a £5,000 cheque at the end of this month, and then another £5,000 every month for the rest of the year.

Then came the catch. The man asked her to transfer the £749 authorisation fee via the Western Union Bank.

But when she rang the bank, she was told she could not make the transfer and she then decided not to go ahead with paying out anything.

She said she had contacted the Evening Press to warn other people about such prizes, and the price they might have to pay to receive them.

She also wanted to know if anyone else had been told they had won the prize.

Stuart Benson, principal trading standards officer with City of York Council, today warned people to treat prize draws emanating from abroad with extreme caution.

"They lie outside the powers of the UK enforcement authorities. In particular, be very careful before sending any money abroad."

mike.laycock@ycp.co.uk

Updated: 11:51 Thursday, February 07, 2002