A WARNING has been issued today after a Halton resident received a fraudulent email pretending to be from his bank.

The 43-year-old man was sent a scam email claiming to be from Nat West Bank, asking him to confirm his identity so that his account could be unlocked.

He immediately alerted Halton Trading Standards.

Their specialist officers are already working with Halton residents who have lost thousands of pounds to scams.

Halton Cllr Dave Cargill, board member for Trading Standards, urged people to be vigilant.

He said: If you’ve been a victim of identity fraud, then act quickly, you must not ignore the problem.

“If you believe you’re a victim of identity fraud involving plastic cards, online banking or cheques you must report it to your bank as soon as possible.”

Trading Standards say banks never send customers emails asking them to follow a link to log into their accounts.

Anyone who has been affected by scams can call Halton Trading Standards specialist officers on 0151 511 8785 or 0151 511 8775.

Trading Standards offer these tips for avoiding scams:

● If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

● It you haven’t bought a ticket  you can’t win it.

● You shouldn’t have to pay anything to get a prize. 

● If in doubt, don’t reply. Bin it, delete it or hang up.

● If you are contacted out of the blue be suspicious.

● Don’t be rushed, resist pressure to make a decision straight away.

● Never send money to someone you have never met.

● Walk away from job ads that ask for money in advance.

● Your bank will never attend your home to collect cash, your pin, payment card or cheque book if you are a victim of fraud.

● Your bank will never phone you to ask for your PIN or your online banking password.

● Your bank will never ask you to transfer money to a new account for fraud reasons.

If  you suspect a phone scam, hang up, wait 10 minutes to clear the line or use another phone to call your bank on the number you have for them.

● Genuine computer firms do not make unsolicited phone calls to fix computers.

If you have been scammed report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 to help stop it happening to others.