PHISHING FRAUD

Don't those emails look convincing with all the logos and official looking script? Although, you will probably find the odd spelling mistake or grammatical error - for example; "flaged" instead of "flagged". Sometimes, "phishers" will warn you that your account will be closed or that you will suffer some other financial jeopardy if you don't comply with their instructions.

If you get an email from anyone asking you to divulge personal details, passwords or pin numbers - DON'T!

If you are asked by anyone to fill in a form and fax it back with your card details - DON'T!

If you get an email from anyone asking you to visit a website to confirm your details for their "new security measures" or "system upgrade" - DON'T!

If you are asked by anyone selling on the internet to email or fax them with your credit card details as they "now accept credit cards"- DON'T!

Financial institutions have started to publish email addresses on their websites where you can forward phishing emails (replace the $ sign with an @ symbol) for example: phishing$hsbc.com or phishing$nationwide.co.uk

TIP Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 comes with a built-in phishing filter as a safeguard and automatically checks the web page you are browsing.