Police have urged members of the public to be on their guard against individuals seeking to obtain their personal information over the phone or by e-mail.

The illegal practice of ‘phishing’ can include misleading e-mails claiming to be from local banks and unknown callers who offer to help residents with bogus glitches affecting their home computers.

A police spokesman has urged the public never to relay personal information over the phone or by e-mail to unknown persons, and that such unsolicited communication be ignored.

“Once again the Bermuda Police Service would like to remind members of the public to remain vigilant regarding phone calls, e-mails and other correspondence from unknown persons that attempt to obtain personal information or other sensitive data,” he said.

“In addition, residents are reminded that personal information regarding banking details, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers and computer access are valuable and that this information should never be relayed over the internet or phone to unknown persons.”

Any incidents of suspected internet fraud should be reported to the Financial Crime Unit on 247-1757 or e-mail fraud2@bps.bm.