CONMEN persuaded a man to part with nearly £2,000 after he received a fake e-mail purporting to be from friends.

The man, who is in his fifties and from Wickford, is the latest victim to fall prey to the scam, which has hit people across the UK.

The victim received an e-mail, which appeared to be sent from his friend, saying they were stranded in Spain without any money.

The man, thinking his friend was in need of help, sent the cash via money order.

But his friend’s e-mail address had been hacked by tricksters, who kept the cash.

Investigating officer PC Robert Sansom, of Wickford police, said: “It is really unfortunate this victim has lost money, after they thought they were helping a friend.

“These e-mails can be very common and the fraudsters always ask for the money via a money order, as there are thousands of companies worldwide to do this through, and they are hard to trace.

“I would advise anyone who receives such an e-mail to always contact the said friend on the phone to verify the authenticity of the request, before sending any money.

“More often than not, the e-mail will be written differently to how your friend will usually communicate with you, so if it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.”

The incident happened at the end of last month.