Concerned about a rapidly spreading form of online fraud, police are using a sample ``phishing'' site here to warn consumers not to swallow the bait.

Phishing is an e-mail scam used to fool people into providing banking data to crooks, who then make unauthorized purchases or withdrawals from bank accounts.

In a typical phishing fraud, swindlers send a message that appears to be from a legitimate organization that the user is registered with. Some messages offer gifts as enticements to respond.

When the user clicks on a link, the browser opens at a sophisticated Web site operated by the data thieves. From there, the user is asked to type in bank account IDs, passwords or credit card information.

As of late January, phishing was blamed for causing 120 billion yen in global financial damage.

In Japan, the first victim was reported in November.

No victims have been reported in Shimane Prefecture, where prefectural police put together a computerized demonstration with the Hiroshima-based Chugoku regional police bureau, which oversees police in five prefectures in the Chugoku region, including Shimane.

In the example, a typical phishing e-mail appears in the in-box of a person who uses ``ABC Bank.'' The e-mail offers the user a prize because ABC Bank has registered its one millionth bank account. To collect the prize, the user must click a link to a Web site that closely resembles the real ABC Bank's online site. The user is then asked to input his bank account number and password.

When he does, an error message appears. But the bank account number and password are forwarded to the fraudster's e-mail address.

At a computer fair here in January, police demonstrated the fraud using two computers -one for the crook and the other for the bank user.

Hiroshi Sakamoto of the Shimane prefectural police said: ``People aren't too aware of phishing and tend to click on links in fraudulent messages. You should never respond to messages from senders you don't know.'' Legitimate banks and credit card firms do not request personal data via e-mail.(IHT/Asahi: March 1,2005)