Trading standards officers are warning business people to be on their guard against postal fraud, writes Chris Koenig.

Businessman Clive Loxton, who runs Building & Electrical Services in Abingdon, was surprised by an offer from Nigeria to deposit more than $27m in his bank account.

The letter, contained in an airmail envelope with a Togolaise stamp, informed him that something called the National Economic Planning Commission needed a reputable overseas account in which to deposit the money.

Someone calling himself Dr Amos Adamu said Mr Loxton would be paid 30 per cent of the money in return for the use of his bank account. Mr Loxton said: "I was a little worried as to the motives and consequences of such a scheme."

Oxfordshire trading standards officer Martin Allen said: "Our advice to anyone receiving these letters is to put them straight in the bin.

"The sender is probably trying to gain access to business people's accounts with the intention of draining them dry. They rely on an embarrassment factor. Anyone silly enough to respond to the request and lose their money would then probably be too embarrassed to do anything about it." The West Africa unit at the National Criminal Intelligence Service said Nigerian fraudsters are sending out more than 450,000 con letters a year to target businesses in Britain.

It said one syndicate of businessmen that fell for the scam lost £1.2m, after one man drew friends into the scheme.

The average loss to people who fall for the letters is £200,000.

Story date: Thursday 02 December

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