E-mail promising Marks & Spencer vouchers was a hoax

E-mails originating from a certain Andy Curran or Diana Maclean, on behalf of a company, Persimmon Homes, has no connection with Marks & Spencer locally or in the UK, a Marks & Spencer spokesman said.

The email that has been circulated with the subject 'Marks & Spencer vouchers' is promising to send Marks & Spencer vouchers to all individuals who forward the e-mail.

The e-mail is a hoax as it suggests that this company is paying out millions of pounds of vouchers to people who simply forward an e-mail. The only probable consequence of this chain e-mail is that individuals forwarding the e-mail may discover that they have unwittingly passed on their e-mail address to a spam directory and will receive more unwanted e-mails as a result.

IT security and control firm Sophos is warning computer users not to be duped by enticing e-mail offers. Sophos warns that forwarding other people's e-mail addresses without their explicit permission could compromise their personal details - leaving them susceptible to spam, phishing attacks and identity theft.

Persimmon has also published an advisory on its Website informing Internet users that the e-mail is a hoax, and requesting that they do not forward it to friends, family and colleagues.

It is advisable that users intent on sharing these chain e-mails should check the Website of the company making the apparent offer to determine its authenticity before deciding to click the 'forward' button.

Hoaxes of this nature may appear harmless but they can waste valuable bandwidth, impact staff productivity and place e-mail addresses in the wrong hands. E-mail spreads like wildfire and forwarding one copy could result in 100 more being sent - some of which could potentially reach cybercriminals.

If you receive an e-mail that appears too good to be true, it probably is - hit the delete button straight away to save any hassle down the line.

Marks & Spencer advises anyone who has received this particular e-mail to delete it immediately and to refrain from requesting further information about this e-mail from Marks & Spencer employees, as they will be unable to provide with any further information.