Many scams have involved premium rate phone numbers

More than 11,000 people in Oldham were tricked out of money, but officials said only 500 people reported scams to police or trading standards officers.

Oldham Trading Standards said schemes involving premium rate phone numbers, pyramid selling and foreign lotteries were among those people fell for.

The statistics equate to about �80 lost by every adult in the borough.

Councillor David Hibbert, cabinet member for environment and regeneration at Oldham Council, said he was "stunned" by the figures.

TYPES OF FRAUD Phishing: The use of emails which guide unsuspecting users to fake banking websites to steal their login details Long firm fraud: Setting up companies to trade legitimately, then disappear with the gains from one last, big deal Lottery scam: Using letters or emails to convince someone that they have won a foreign lottery - and then charging them thousands in "taxes" and fees Boiler rooms: cold-calling people to talk them into buying worthless shares at inflated prices

"The massive amount of money that conmen and tricksters are taking out of people's pockets is astonishing," he said.

Mr Hibbert urged anyone who had fallen victim to a scam to come forward.

"We appreciate that victims may be embarrassed but our trading standards officers are specially trained to deal with this specialist area of work and your information is vital to stamping this problem out," he added.

The figures were published in research by the Office of Fair Trading which found that about 6.5% of adults fall victim to scams each year.