He told : ?The banks are aware of all the relevant card details and as such would not ask for a third party to act on their behalf.

?All communications concerning banking details and credit cards should be done through the issuing bank.

?If needed they would be able to forward information to authorised third parties.

?This is an effort to obtain a card holder?s details by an unauthorised third party.?

Neither of the main two banks has had complaints about the email, which was sent to a reporter this week.

A Bank of Butterfield spokesperson said: ?We advise customers not to respond to any emails requesting personal information. MasterCard does not contact customers directly and so any email claiming to be from them should be deleted.

?If at all in doubt, we advise Butterfield Bank customers to contact us before taking any other action.?

A Bank of Bermuda spokesperson said: ?We are aware of ?phishing? attacks on Internet banking customers and remind our customers on our Internet banking website that any requests received to validate personal information should be declined.?