A scam warning has been issued by Lancashire Police relating to fake speeding letters.

Police say a man in Penwortham received a letter purporting to be a notice of intended prosecution from Lancashire Constabulary in relation to an alleged speeding offence.

The letter was fake and not sent by police.

Police have released the following points to help the public distinguish between a real speeding letter or a fake one.

A police spokesman said: “Whilst we don’t know at this stage whether this man was targeted or it is a wider scam, here is some advice to help you distinguish a fake from the genuine article.”

– If police send you a Notice of Intended Prosecution they will never provide payment information at that stage as they need to determine who was driving at the time of the alleged offence first.

– Do not make any payments in relation to fixed penalties unless you’re sure the information has come from the police. For fixed penalties, all payments are made to ‘HMCTS North Fixed Penalties’ – police do not specify an account or sort code.

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– Police refer people to the Public Access System to view photos of their vehicle during an alleged speeding offence and for calibration certificates. On a genuine letter, you would be given a PIN number to enter this system. Make sure you log in and check this even if the letter you receive contains photos of your vehicle as police do not include those types of images in any documentation we send to you.

– Scammers may try and make letters look genuine using the Lancashire Constabulary logo and similar reference numbers to ones we use. If you have received paperwork that you are unsure of, please send a copy to police at Lancashire Constabulary, Central Process Unit, PO Box 1329, Preston, PR2 0SX and police will be able to verify whether it is genuine and advise you accordingly.