RESIDENTS are being urged to ignore a suspected scam letter which is dropping through letterboxes in Weymouth and Portland.

The letter, supposedly written by the widow of the President of Zambia, asks for help in moving millions of dollars to an account in Britain so it can be invested.

In return, the person who agrees to help will receive a percentage of the cash.

The letter, which includes a mobile telephone number and email address, asks the recipient to send their contact details.

PC Katherine Rupp of Weymouth police said the letter had been sent to addresses in Rodwell, Wyke Regis and Portland.

Divisional manager for Dorset County Council's trading standards service Ivan Hancock said the letter bears all the hallmarks of a scam' and strongly advises people to ignore it.

He warned: "On no account should people disclose their personal details to anyone unless they know who they're dealing with."

Mr Hancock said letter and email scams were common, but had different personalities'.

Particular households have received the letter because the fraudsters are moving their way through areas, selecting addresses from the Internet.

Mr Hancock said: "They're looking for a way in, they want to make that first contact. After gaining a person's trust they'll start asking for more information such as bank details allowing them to defraud people of money."

He said it was likely the letter had not been sent by the people mentioned in the correspondence, adding: "This type of scam often originates from Canada.

"It could have been written by a gang of crooks operating from Vancouver. I'm not familiar with this particular letter but I know this type of scam."

Mr Hancock said he was confident most people in Dorset would know to ignore the letter.