Be wary of any unsolicited mail (electronic or otherwise) that asks for money or your personal or banking details 'up front'. Remember, if an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.

The 'African' email scams have been around for a long time now. These involve individuals purporting to be connected to African government agencies, banks etc, claiming that a large amount of assets are being held in inaccessible accounts and asking the recipient's help in reclaiming them. The sender usually offers a percentage of the amount involved as a reward to the recipient for their assistance.

Now Freemasonry is being targeted. Since the beginning of 2005, emails have been sent round the world purporting to be from 'the Masons of Bournemouth' or 'the Masons of Winchester' announcing that the recipient has been chosen to share in their annual pay out of 'US $2.5 million' of Masonic charity money. The emails originate in Germany and Brazil and are a not very clever ruse to get the recipient to forward their bank details. Neither the groups, the money, nor the London solicitors, mentioned in the email exist.

Be advised - as a rule these emails are fraudulent: do not respond to them in any way. The United Grand Lodge of England and the Masonic Charities do not send unsolicited emails and they do not accept any responsibility for these emails being sent. If you receive such an email, and you are concerned that you have replied to such an email you should contact your local Police station and ask for the Fraud Unit, who will take the appropriate action.