A WARNING has been issued after several people in north Worcestershire fell victim to an internet scam.

Police say one woman from Kidderminster sent off £1,700 in six separate payments, before becoming suspicious.

She is one of several people from the Wyre Forest who has become victim to the scam, which originated in Nigeria, in the last couple of months.

Pc Tim Macrae of Kidderminster Police warned people to exercise caution when opening emails from strangers or when buying and selling goods over the internet.

"There are literally hundreds of different scams and we are appealing for people to be on their guard if they are sent any emails by someone they do not know, and to particularly be wary if the emails originate from Nigeria," he said.

"If someone is told they have won the Spanish lottery when they haven't bought a ticket, or that someone they don't even know has died and left them some money, or that they have won a lot of money but have to pay an admin fee up front, it's fairly obvious it's a scam.

"As always, they should remember that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

Pc Macrae reminded people to never divulge their passwords, PIN numbers or account details.

And warned against sending or receiving cheques for items bought online.

"One scam we are aware of involves the buyer sending the seller two cheques, thus overpaying, and the seller then writes out their own cheque to cover the overpayment and sends it back, later discovering the two cheques they received are fraudulent and nothing has gone into their account," he said.

"The Ebay website has some good security advice which people should always read before parting with money or goods."