A SUFFOLK grandmother has today urged users of the auction website eBay to be extra vigilant after she was targeted by internet fraudsters.Gill Worby received five e-mails purporting to be from eBay's payments company, Paypal, which all asked her to click on a link to a site where she should resubmit her bank details.

A SUFFOLK grandmother has today urged users of the auction website eBay to be extra vigilant after she was targeted by internet fraudsters.

Gill Worby received five e-mails purporting to be from eBay's payments company, Paypal, which all asked her to click on a link to a site where she should resubmit her bank details.

Mrs Worby, from Hessett Close, Stowmarket, was in the process of re-sending the information when her daughter stopped her.

Mrs Worby, 54, said: "The e-mail said that there had been a lot of activity in my account and they had identified unusual activity.

"It said if I didn't put in my details, I would have restricted access.

"When I told my daughter what I was going to do she told me to stop immediately."

Mrs Worby has since contacted Paypal who told her if the email does not directly address the recipient by name, instead displaying "dear eBay customer", it is likely to be fraudulent.

Mrs Worby is suffering from encephalitis (swelling of the brain) and has been off work since October.

She said: "Because I have been off for the last few months, I have had plenty of time on my hands so I use eBay quite a lot.

"I'm disabled and I'm waiting to go into Addenbrooke's any day now and it's causing me a lot of worry.

"I've had to keep changing my password and all my security settings. It's quite distressing for me at the moment."

Customers from several high street banks have also been affected by similar scams, known as "phishing". The customer is asked to submit their bank details, which are then recorded and used by the fraudsters.

A spokesman for PayPal said they were aware of the scam and advised people to report any they came across to a special e-mail address to be tracked and investigated.

A trading standards spokesman added: "This is just one of a number of similar scams where you are directed to a fake website and then asked to give bank details. If you fill it in you are giving the fraudsters free rein to your account and they could wipe it out in minutes."

The Paypal e-mail address is spoof@paypal.com

Alternatively, contact trading standards on 01473 584358.