Police at Tenby and elsewhere have received complaints recently about telephone scams which have been attempted in this area. The Office of Fair Trading is involved in the investigation of such scams and have issued advice to members of the public about what to watch out for and generally to try and make people more aware of how they can be 'ripped off'. "We should all realise that if it seems too good to be true, then it probably isn't," warned Inspector Les Clark, of Tenby Police Station. The following scams are described by the OFT. Telephone lottery scams: These include the Canadian lottery scam and the El Gordo Spanish lottery scam, which deceptively uses the name of a genuine lottery. People respond to an unsolicited mailing or 'phone call telling them they are being entered into a prize draw. They then receive a telephone call congratulating them on winning a big prize in a national lottery - but before they can claim their winnings, they must send money to pay for taxes and processing fees. The prize doesn't exist. Prize draw, sweepstakes and foreign lottery mailings: Many typical scams take the form of prize draws, lotteries or Government pay-outs. Most appear to be notification of a prize in an overseas draw or lottery in return for administration or registration fees. The lottery or draw does not exist. Premium rate 'phone number scams: Notification by post of a win in a sweepstake or a holiday offer includes instructions to ring a premium rate 090 number to claim your prize. The call lasts several minutes and callers are pounds out of pocket. Investment scams: An unexpected 'phone call offering the opportunity to invest in shares, fine wine, gemstones or other commodities that are supposedly soon to be rare. These investments often carry very high risk and may be worth a lot less than you pay. The shares are not quoted on any stock exchange and you will not be able to sell them easily afterwards. 'Solid' valuable investments, such as gemstones, are often said to be stored in Swiss bank vaults, so you can never see your investment. Nigerian advance fee frauds: An offer via letter, e-mail or fax to share a huge sum of money in return for using the recipient's bank account to permit the transfer of the money out of the country. The perpetrators will use the information given to empty the victim's bank account. Pyramid schemes: These offer a return on a financial investment based upon the number of new recruits to the scheme. Investors are misled about the likely returns because there are not enough people to support the scheme indefinitely. Only the people who set up the scheme are able to make any money. Matrix schemes: Promoted via websites offering expensive hi-tech gadgets as free gifts in return for spending £20 or similar on a low-value product such as a mobile 'phone signal booster. Consumers who buy the product join a waiting list to receive their free gift. The person at the top of the list gets a free gift only after a prescribed number - sometimes as high as 100 - of new members join up. In reality, the majority of those on the list will never receive the expensive item they expect. Credit scams: Another advance fee fraud, originating in Canada. Advertisements have appeared in UK local newspapers offering fast loans regardless of credit history. Consumers who respond are told their loans have been agreed, but before the money can be released they must pay a fee to cover insurance. Once the advance fee is paid, the consumer never hears from the company again and the loan never appears. Property investment schemes: Would-be investors attend a free presentation and are persuaded to handover thousands of pounds to sign up to a course promising to teach them how to make money dealing in property. Schemes may involve the opportunity to buy properties which have yet to be built at a discount. A variation is a buy-to-let scheme where companies offer to source, renovate and manage properties, claiming good returns from rental income. In practice, the properties are near-derelict and the tenants non-existent. Work-at-home and business opportunity scams: These often work by advertising paid work from home, but which require money up-front to pay for materials; or by requiring investment in a business with little or no chance of success.