TRADING standards officers in the North-East are urging people to be on their guard when using credit cards to pay for Christmas presents bought on the Internet.

The warning follows the case of a Hartlepool man who bought a camera with his credit card using Paypal, a secure way of transferring money.

He subsequently received an e-mail, purporting to be from Paypal, along with an attachment requesting details of his credit card and pin number. His computer also stopped working correctly.

He became suspicious and contacted his anti-virus software provider, which told him the e-mail, an exact copy of Paypal's front page, was a fake.

Malcolm Graham, the senior trading standards officer at Hartlepool Borough Council, said: "The fraudsters hoped he would complete the online form so they would be able to use his credit card fraudulently.

"As there is no reason for anyone to ask for your pin number, take it that if someone does, then there is something wrong.

"If you do give it to someone inadvertently or think someone has managed to find out what it is, contact your card provider straight away.

"Always keep your card providers' telephone numbers in a handy place where you can lay your hands on them so you can contact them without delay."

The man was also told by his anti-virus software provider there was a second line of attack the fraudsters used.

When he opened the e-mail attachment, a "worm" was placed in his computer so that if he did not complete the form, the worm would send back the details if they were on the computer's hard drive.

Mr Graham said: "Do not open attachments on e-mails unless you know who they are from."