PSNI warning over e-mail account scam

Internet users have been warned of a scam targeting their e-mail accounts.

It follows reports from the Clogher area of County Tyrone about e-mails purporting to be from a major internet services provider.

Recipients are given a deadline to provide their user names and passwords or their e-mail account would be lost.

Some then got a message from someone on their contacts list claiming to be stuck without money in England and asking for money to be transferred.

“This was a scam. We are still trying to establish how the fraudsters got e-mail addresses in the first place, but that was only their first step,” a police spokesman said.

“We believe that the crooks then used information from those who responded to collate names and e-mail addresses.”

He said the scam was carried out about two or three weeks ago, but had only just come to the attention of the police.

“We do not know how many people received the message, and so far we have not been contacted by anyone who sent money on,” the spokesman added.

“While the initial report has come from the south Tyrone area, we believe that a number of people north and south of the border have been contacted by the fraudsters.

“We are advising all internet users to be wary about messages they receive. Anyone who has received a similar message is asked to contact their local PSNI or Garda station.”