If you have received an e-mail telling you that your order has not been delivered, or you have won a prize and all you have to do is open a file, or click on a link, the chances are you are being scammed.

Criminals are continually seeking new ways to part the unwary from their money and they are becoming ever more inventive to do so.

Almost every day, an e-mail will arrive that is nothing more than an attempt to infect your PC with ‘spyware’ that tracks your every keystroke in order to gather (and then transmit to criminals) details of your on-line banking access codes; or to get you to log on to a convincing looking (but fake) website that invites you to log in to your account, again revealing your ID and password.

The problem is that while these used to look amateurish and usually included give-away errors, they are now becoming more sophisticated. If you receive a message ostensibly from a bank or firm that you actually use (as opposed to the bulk of these which will relate to institutions with which you know you have no relationship) it is worth remembering that they will already know your information and should not be asking for it again.

Most 'popular' scams
Phishing – probably the most common form of scam relates to messages from banks asking you to log on and confirm your security information. You should always ignore these, because banks simply do not do this. If you want a double check, look at the real address you are being sent to by a hyperlink (not the one that appears in the e-mail, but the one that appears at the foot of the e-mail if you hover over the link). It will usually have the name of the bank in it somewhere, but the top level domain (the last character before the first forward slash “/”) will be something strange, rather than “.co.uk” or “.com”.

You’ve won a prize & Your delivery is waiting for collection – these usually ask you to open an attachment (which is the last thing you should do) in order to find out how to collect. Even if you have entered a competition or placed an order for something you should be very careful. And there is no point in trusting the “from” e-mail address, because these are very easy to fake. If in doubt, don’t. Instead, telephone the legitimate company (not using any details on the e-mail) and ask for confirmation of the message’s legitimacy.

Help me get money out of the country – usually Nigeria. Quite apart from the fact that there is no such thing as a free lunch, doing so is completely illegal, so you risk incurring a criminal record if it worked. But don’t worry, it will not work. All the crooks want is your bank details (they may even ask you to send some money to help facilitate the transfer to you of millions of dollars) so that they can milk your account.

Online trading – while sites like e-bay and Amazon Marketplace are highly legitimate, some criminals have started using fake e-mails that appear to come from these in order to get you to send goods or money to them. In either case, you will never see your property again. Make sure you know who the e-mail is really from and never fall for a sob-story that asks you to send goods to, for example, somewhere in eastern Europe. Remember, you will never be asked for bank details by a legitimate organisation because they will already have the information.

The list of possible scams is legion and you should simply exercise caution in respect of all e-mails you receive from anything but trusted sources (such as your Independent Financial Adviser!).

Software
To make absolutely sure that you are protected, always have a firewall, antivirus and spyware software on your PC and keep them up to date. Subscriptions are not high, but paid for versions are better than the free ones, because they offer greater functionality.

You should take individual professional advice before making any decision relating to your personal finances.

NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS GIVING INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL ADVICE. PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE MAY BE VARIATIONS FOR THOSE LIVING IN SCOTLAND AND NORTHERN IRELAND.