It's a scam, you can bank on it

People are still falling for spoof emails, and risk being conned out of hundreds of pounds.

The latest scam involves customers of Barclays' bank being sent an email that tries to trick them out of confidential information.

Barclays warned that these details could be used to withdraw funds and transfer them to various accounts. It is believed that around 400 people have contacted Barclays about the scam.

The email, which pretends to offer a technical update for Barclays' customer accounts, directs the recipient to a fake website that looks very like a genuine Barclays web page.

"This site is incredibly similar to our website and the links all the way through are markedly well done," a Barclays spokeswoman told vnunet.com.

But warning bells should start ringing immediately. Financial institutions never ask customers for confidential information via email or to divulge such details at websites linked to by a web address in the email.

Genuine banking websites are always prefixed with https. The 's' stands for 'secure' and guarantees that details are being kept confidential.

This latest scam also asked for the customer's full 'memorable name', even though banks never ask for more than a few letters of this word.

Barclays, which is liasing with the National High Tech Crime Unit, has limited online transactions to £500 while the problem is being addressed.

The bank reiterated that it never sends emails to customers requesting security details or any other confidential information.

"Customers should not reply to any such emails and should never follow any links to websites claiming to be Barclays Bank," it said in a statement.

Users who believe they may have fallen victim to this scam are urged to call Barclays on 0845 600 2323. Local call rates apply.