SCOTS residents are being targeted by fraudsters who try to trick them into believing they have won hundreds of thousands of pounds in a lottery.

Police issued a warning after a spate of incidents in which people from all over the country, including St Andrews, Dunoon and Dunblane, received letters telling them they had won the Commonwealth of Nations lottery and had to send on their bank details to allow the cash to be transferred.

A Police Scotland spokesman said investigations were under way. He added: "The bottom line is that if something appears too good to be true, then it usually is."