BBC report

On our local television news this evening was the story of a pensioner here, a widow, she has sent £72,000 to some Canadian scam. That is all the money she had, plus some - she is now in debt.

Below is the item copied from the Channel Online website of CTV.

Pensioner conned out of over £70,000

A Jersey pensioner has been conned out of more than £70,000 after she entered a competition prize draw.

The woman, who doesn't want to be identified, was offered the chance of winning up to £600,000 by a company in Canada.

She was asked to send cash via money transfer to numerous accounts which she'd been told belonged to a legitimate gaming organisation. She believes she was targeted because she's a widow and living alone.

Few of us will escape the deluge of unwanted post offering everything from holidays to cash prizes. Many of the letters we receive originate from Europe, the US or Canada and are often backed up by a phone call to our home offering to change your life.

"It all began in April last year when I received a telephone call from America to say that I had won third prize in a competition that I had entered and the amount was £120,000," said the victim, who did not want to be identified.

The lady described her feelings at that time: "The feeling was absolute heaven because I was beginning to look for a flat to live in instead of a house. It would give me the extra amount of money that I would need on top of what I would get for my own house to pay for the flat," she said.

It's only when you start looking at the internet you realise how much of a problem and how widespread these scams have become. If your personal details have already fallen into the hands of the wrong people then you're at risk from being conned.

The way it works is that you're offered a high value cash prize but in order to claim it you have to send off some money first. But once the money has left the island there is little the police can do to get it back because the crime has occured outside Jersey.

Bruce Liron is from the States of Jersey Police: "Well police forces around the world are in the same position. Certainly the Canadian authorities do take it seriously but we must remember once the money has been sent off, effectively it is stolen. So there can be quite a long investigation and to get a result is extremely difficult."

Becoming a victim of theft can be devastating no matter what your circumstances but when your're a pensioner and a widow who's just lost £72,000, the effects can be long lasting.

"I'm angry with myself for allowing this to happen. Angry with the person who had been so clever in the way that he had manipulated me and also terrified as to what I was going to do to pay back bills I owed at that particular moment," the victim said.

"It's made me feel that I cannot trust anyone. It's also made me feel very reluctant to carry on with the work that I am doing at the moment and yet I know that I have got to carry on and I have got to put this at the back of me," she added.

Opening your post or answering the telephone may bring the promise of untold wealth - but beware of that offer which seems too good to be true which could not only rob you of your savings - but your confidence and trust too.