A pensioner was left distraught after she realised a letter making claims about her future was a money-making ploy.

Pauline Homer, 84, who lives in sheltered housing in Southwick, received an eight-page letter from a woman claiming to be a psychic who promised her good fortune - so long as she sent off a cheque for £15.

Sussex Police today described the letter and others like it as "a form of threatening chain letter" and warned recipients to be sceptical.

Mrs Homer's daughter, Anna Foy, of Fairfield Gardens, Portslade, accused the letter's author of playing on vulnerable people's emotions "to make a quick buck".

She said: "We have had all sorts of unsolicited mail but this one is the most insidious because if you are lonely or vulnerable it's very believable. It's evil that someone could play with people's emotions like that.

"In my mother's world it wasn't like this. People were by and large good people. It's very difficult to explain to her that you can't trust people now. She would have believed every word. These things really upset her."

She said she was worried other elderly and vulnerable people without friends or relatives to advise them could end up paying the £15.

The letter, which is typed but looks as though it has been personalised with highlighting and pen markings, said: "I saw you surrounded by a kind of black veil made of heavy cloth.

"It was difficult to bear and it was keeping you away from the things you love. This situation, which has been going on for quite some time now, can be changed if you follow my instructions carefully."

The letter asked Mrs Homer to send £15 to an address in The Netherlands to cover the costs of a psychic reading and promised her she would soon receive a cash cheque as she was about to get lucky.

Last week Roy Banks, 66, of Seaside Avenue, Lancing, received a similar letter from a woman who called herself Maria Rosa. She claimed to be psychic and said unless Mr Banks paid £15 somebody would do "something extremely nasty" to him.

Geoff Foster, a fraud investigator at Sussex Police, said: "Think logically and carefully if you receive a letter or email giving news like this.

"In essence it is a form of threatening chain letter except the clairvoyant's name is always at the top."