Along with all the spam that you receive you may also have noticed that some emails appear to be from banks, or online shops/auction sites. The sole purpose of these emails is to fraudulently obtain your username, password and other personal information in order to carry out identity theft. This practice is commonly referred to as "Phishing" 

Many people have received emails appearing to be from Banco Santander, Abbey National, Paypal, Ebay, etc all of which claim that "your account has been suspended", "your payment has been confirmed" or "someone has tried to access your account". They then ask you to click on the link within the email and confirm your login details. 

It is not easy to spot an email “phishing” for information. At first glance, the email may look like it is from a legitimate company. The "From" field of the email may have the web address of the company mentioned in the email. The clickable links even appear to take you to the company's website, but in fact, it is a fake website built to imitate the real site.

You must NEVER click on the link contained within an email like this.  To check your account go directly to the relevant website and login in the usual way.

Remember to check your accounts frequently. If you think that any kind of suspicious activity is going on, report  it immediately to your bank or card company.