Email phishing spam scams

Many of these originate from Nigeria. The email pretends usuaally purport to be from a bank such as; HSBC, Barclays or Natwest. Usually it states it's from the website administration and for some reason they need your username or password. They then ask for personal details of your account or credit card. They can also do the same for sites like Ebay and Amazon, hoping that you will send them your password. These scams can be very cunning - and seem very legitimate. The first rule to abide by is that websites like banks will never ask for your username or password by email. Banks and other legitimate companies will not send an email stating that your computers security has been breached, or an unauthorised transaction on your account has occurred. Therefore, ensure that when an email asks you to click a link and confirm your identity by filling in your username, password and personal details - you never do.