A COUPLE left penniless after falling foul of a Spanish lottery sweepstake scam have been forced to remortgage their Leeds home to pay off their debts.
Consumerwatch reported how the couple, who have asked to remain anonymous, have been left to count the cost after sweepstake scamsters fleeced them out of more than £20,000.
They coughed up the cash believing they had won a 650,000 Euro (£478,000) sweepstake jackpot.
But they were left saddled with huge debts after taking out a credit card and loan to cover the cost of upfront fees in order to release their bogus sweepstake prize.
They have now been left with no choice but to remortgage their home leaving their retirement plans in tatters.
The 72-year-old husband told Consumerwatch: "It is difficult enough when you are working and have a mortgage to pay off. But we will never recover from this. It really has had a bad effect on us both."
The nightmare began when the couple received an unsolicited letter though the post claiming they had been successful on the Madrid-based Euro Millions International Promotions Sweepstake Programme. They were then inundated with calls by scamsters who persuaded them to part with close on 30,000 Euros (£22,000).
The retired alarms engineer said he'd been forced to take a part-time job as a delivery driver to help the couple make ends meet.
"I was wanting to take it steady and enjoy my retirement," he said. "But all that has gone up in smoke now. We can't manage on our pensions alone."
The couple initially chose not to tell family about the sweepstake scam but have since decided to reveal the full extent of their misery.
"They have been sympathetic with us but they think we have been fools which we have been. They have offered to lend us money but we just won't be able to afford to pay them back."
The couple admit they are struggling to look to the future with a positive outlook.
"It's not so rosy at the moment," said the husband. "If one of us was to die then the other wouldn't be able to keep the house and that keeps us awake at night.
"It is difficult but we keep reminding each other that there are a lot of people who are a lot worse off than us out there."