The Bank of Bermuda has warned local residents to beware of scam e-mails that take a more sophisticated approach than in years past.

Head of compliance Ifor Hughes called for local residents to increase their vigilance when vetting which e-mails should be taken seriously ? and which trashed ? after the bank was forwarded a scam e-mail received by a local resident from someone identifying themselves as being affiliated with HSBC Plc.

He warned that a more subtle and sophisticated approach, as seen in this latest hoax e-mail, should not lure one into believing they might be able to cash in.

"It is nothing new; there has been widespread coverage of these scams but this e-mail was bit more head on. The sophistication (of these e-mails) seems to be increasing.

"It is a global problem but people should know that it may be a bit more difficult to discern this e-mail as a fraud attempt. But if it seems like something for nothing, beware," Mr. Hughes told

The bank said it had immediately notified both HSBC and the Police of the hoax, but that law enforcement authorities around the world ? including in Bermuda ? had found it an onerous task to thwart these kinds of scams and generally did not investigate unless there had been an actual loss.

Mr. Hughes stressed that no one should be seduced into thinking this kind of e-mail was bona fide because a reputable institution, in this case, HSBC, was named in the message.

"There is no link whatsoever here with HSBC; no one should be fooled. This has nothing to do with us," he said.

The message was forwarded to the bank because of its being a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC, after its $1.3 billion sale to the multinational banking giant closed last month.

The e-mail, which was said to be written by someone who was working for HSBC on a consulting basis for a private investigators and security firm, was trying to place if the recipient ? who was said to bear the same surname as an HSBC private banking client who had died without a valid will ? might be entitled to the assets left by this presumably fictitious former customer.

"The old adage 'if it sounds to good to be true it probably is,' should be relied on here," Mr. Hughes said.

Although the message does not ask one to divulge account details, or part with money for legal fees or other costs, as some of the less sophisticated scam messages have, Mr. Hughes said he suspected it was a ruse to win people's confidence only to later draw them into a web where attempts would be made to cheat them out of money.

"It is more important than ever to be vigilant. If there is no bona fide reason for you to receive such a message, you must question it," he said.