Police are urging people to be aware of Internet scams recently being used on people in Avon and Somerset.

DC Greg Brunt, Financial Intelligence Officer, in Bristol said: I must remind the public in these difficult financial times to use caution when making online purchases. Cyber criminals continue to create ways to steal your money and personal information. If a deal looks too good to be true, it likely is.

"Before you handover any of your money, ask yourself am I about to become a victim of fraud.

"Conduct your own research on the internet and verify the person you are dealing with exists or if anyone else has been scammed in the same way. The internet can reveal a lot of information the criminals rely on you not knowing."

Five Internet, email and web scams to watch out for:

Bogus lottery scam

What is it?

Scam emails try to persuade the recipient to submit personal information or to part with money as an upfront payment in order to release a 'winning' lottery prize.

What do scammers want?

• Your money in order to release a 'winning' lottery prize that does not exist.
• Your personal information in order to steal your identity.

Top tips to protect yourself

• Never send any upfront fees required in order to 'claim your prize'.
• Never give personal or account details to anyone who contacts you unexpectedly.

Bogus Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) scam

What is it?

People who have had involvement in the past with PPI are being contacted by cold callers stating to be from a PPI claims company (various names).

What do scammers want?

• The scammers ask individuals to pay an upfront fee in the outset to be able to process their claim.
• They request people purchase genuine UKASH vouchers which come with a serial code on them, once this code is passed to the caller, they are able to use them in several online outlets even without having the voucher.

Top tips to protect yourself

• If you are contacted by any cold calls, please be wary and be aware if you are due some monies back by any company or organisation there should NEVER be a charge involved to process the refund.

MET virus scam

What is it?

Victims will be browsing throughout the internet the computer screen will be blocked with a message that claims to be from the Metropolitan Police containing the victims IP address.

What the scammers want

• The message says that the victim has been browsing websites with illegal content and the computer will only be unlocked when they pay a fine.
• The scammers ask for this £100 fine to be paid using UKASH vouchers.

Top tips to protect yourself

• If you get any messages claiming to be from any police force you can contact them directly to check the validity.
• A police force will never ask for a fine to be paid through UKASH vouchers.

PayPal scam

What is it?

The scam involves a fake PayPal email being sent which tricks people into sending out goods they are selling on-line before they have received any money.

What do scammers want?

• Criminals visit sites such as e-Bay, or Gumtree, posing as genuine buyers and tricking people into sending their property to an address in the belief it has already been paid for.
• This is done by sending an email stating it is from PayPal and telling sellers that their funds have been deposited and will be released once they enter a tracking number from sending the goods.

Top tips to protect yourself

• Never send items unless the money is already available in your PayPal account.
• PayPal will never send messages asking for tracking numbers.

The "fix your computer" scam

What is it?

The scammers telephone the victim claiming to be from Microsoft or a company working on behalf of Microsoft. They normally know the householders name and claim an alert has been sent to Microsoft about a problem with the victim's computer.

What do the scammers want?

• The scammers try to convince victims that their computer has a virus which has been reported to them or is sending out spam emails from the victims account.
• They will then ask for passwords in order to access your email and gain personal details.

Top tips to protect yourself

• Microsoft will never call you directly about anything like this. Although your copy of Windows should be registered with Microsoft, they normally do not know who you are or exactly where you live, unless you have informed them in some way, which is unlikely. So anyone that cold calls about a virus and knows your name and address, and claims any relationship with Microsoft, is a scammer.
• Never give out your personal passwords, log in details or bank account details to anyone calling your home and claiming to be from this company.