Growing numbers of vulnerable victims are being taken in by ruthless gangs of fraudsters running too-good-to-be-true email scams.

How would you like to be given £2 million just for doing a favour for a helpless orphan in a strife-torn foreign land?

Offers like this are appearing in email in boxes across the UK.

If they sound too good to be true, there is good reason - they are cash-making scams run by international crime syndicates.

However, many people, like Michael Hobro, from Seaford, have been tempted by West African deceptions, which are estimated to cost the UK £3.5 billion a year.

As we reported last week, Mr Hobro lost £20,000 after falling for a hoax email purporting to be from an Ivory Coast orphan wanting someone to look after his £8 million trust fund.

Mr Hobro thought this was his chance to hit the jackpot. Instead he wound up penniless and homeless.

After travelling to Ivory Coast and being charged heavily for legal and administrative fees, he realised he would not get the 20 per cent of the trust fund he was promised.

Detective Constable Bob Burke, of the Metropolitan Police fraud squad, has had to disillusion many victims of West African advance fee frauds, with losses ranging from £5,000 to £600,000.

The scams are also known as "419 frauds", named after the relevant section of the criminal code of Nigeria.

Mr Burke has had to comfort and advise victims including Mr Hobro but said: "If someone tells you can have access to up to £20 million in return for investing just a few thousands pounds, you have to be an idiot to believe them."

While the email scams are most commonly associated with Nigeria, police fear the criminal networks are spreading elsewhere.

Letters from Ivory Coast, Gold Coast and South Africa have been reported, as have teams working out of eastern Europe. Some are based in London, or use the capital's hotels for meetings with unwitting fall guys.

Emails are increasingly used because they are harder for authorities to intercept.

Recipients are often told their contact details came from local chambers of commerce or business directories. Victims are urged to travel to meet contacts at major expense.

After making initial down payments for legal and administrative fees, they are bombarded with ever-increasing costs.

By this point, people can find themselves paying out more and more in vain attempts to extricate themselves from the schemes.

Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo has promised tougher action against offenders.

If anything, the problem is getting worse - police are receiving increasing reports of violence being threatened or used.

Anyone receiving a 419 letter should pass it to local police, marking it for the attention of the fraud squad, as well as forwarding it to the internet service provider (ISP) it came from by emailing abuse@(the ISP name), such as abuse@yahoo.com Those who have lost money should contact the West African organised crime section of the National Criminal Intelligence Service on 020 7238 8012. Further advice is available at www.met.police.uk/fraudalert or www.ncis.co.uk/waocu