A PENSIONER has been left feeling suicidal after fraudsters put her on a ‘suckers list’ when she fell victim to a scam.

Cherril Scott-Morley, 70, says she is plagued by up to 20 nuisance telephone calls a day.

It comes after she fell victim to an online scam last year, losing more than £100 to tricksters purporting to be from Microsoft.

Mrs Scott-Morley, from Weymouth, says she is now on anti-depressants and attributes a lot of her worries to the calls.

After recently receiving a call incorrectly stating she was entitled to PPI compensation, Mrs Scott-Morley decided she’d had enough.

She contacted Dorset Police and Action Fraud and is now urging readers of the Echo to heed the warning.

“I rang the police and they put me through to Action Fraud and they told me that because I had been caught out before, I had been put on a ‘suckers list’,” Mrs Scott-Morley said.

Those who respond to scams are placed on such lists by fraudsters and these lists are sold on to others who attempt to con the victim again.

Almost 200,000 people appear on 13 different “suckers lists” that have been seized by fraud investigators after they had been used by scam artists to bombard the elderly with junk mail, it has been revealed.

Trading Standards said those listed were being sent mailshots inviting them to take part in fake prize draws, competitions and special offers.

The lists were found on raids at companies suspected of breaking the law. They are believed to have been created from larger lists from legitimate companies.

Typically, fraudsters will send a mailshot to everyone on the legitimate list and those who respond are put on to the suckers list.

Mrs Scott-Morley is one of a number of Dorset residents to have fallen victim to scams.

Police revealed in March how victims in the county had been conned out of more than £1m in a year.

Mrs Scott-Morley said: “I want more people to be aware it’s very important that they do go to the police who will give them all the help and support that they can.

“I don’t think these calls are going to stop.

“I’m on anti-depressants and a lot of it is to do with these calls.

“I’ve felt suicidal – that’s how much it can affect you.”

A spokesman for Action Fraud said: “Fraudsters are increasingly targeting people over the telephone, posing as bank staff, police officers and other officials or companies to extract personal and financial information.

“Your bank or the police will never phone you to ask for your PIN or your online banking password, ask you to transfer money to a new account for fraud reasons.

“They will also never send someone to your home to collect your cash, PIN, payment card or cheque book if you are a victim of fraud.

“If you are given any of these instructions, you’re being targeted by fraudsters.

Hang up, wait five minutes to clear the line, or where possible use a different phone line, then call your bank or card issuer to report the fraud.”

Detective Sergeant Alan Marks, of Dorset Police’s Force Intelligence Bureau, said: “I would like to bring these incidents to the public’s attention.

“As with all phone scams, offenders can be highly convincing and I ask people to remain vigilant and ensure friends and family are also aware of such offences.“I am also appealing to anyone in the county who has been targeted by these scams to report them to the police.” Call police on 101 to report fraud.