Port Augusta Police are urging people who receive the letters from Euromillions Lottery International and Contest America to disregard them.

The Euro scheme tells the recipient of the letter they have already won millions of Euros and that the money is already in their bank accounts, but the details needed to be confirmed.

The letter asks that the recipient send an amount of personal information including photo identification and current bank account details.

The letter asks the recipient not to disclose their win until the claim is processed.

Recipients who reply to the letter leave themselves open to identity theft.

The American scheme tells the recipient that they have been drawn at random to take part in a game or contest where the ultimate prize is a large amount of money.

The recipient is asked to send a small amount of money to enter the draw, and when the first payment is received, the recipient is told they have advanced to the next stage of the game, but to continue will need to send another amount of money.

The recipient ends up sending a lot of money to an unknown destination overseas without receiving a prize.

Port Augusta Police have called the operators of these scams criminals, and recipients of the letters should not contact the company at all.

Information about scams like these is available from the Consumer Affairs Department.