Really. You CAN read email from Simon Ashton. Kent Trading Standards Says So.

Kent Trading Standards is advising that they are aware of a "warning" email being circulated currently. Like many others, it is a hoax - below is an excerpt. Do not bother forwarding it if you should receive it - just delete it.

VERY URGENT - PLEASE READ - NOT A JOKE

IF A PERSON CALLED SIMON ASHTON ( SIMON25@HOTMAIL.CO.UK ) CONTACTS YOU THROUGH EMAIL DON'T OPEN THE MESSAGE. DELETE IT BECAUSE HE IS A HACKER!!

TELL EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST BECAUSE IF SOMEBODY ON YOUR LIST ADDS HIM THEN YOU WILL GET HIM ON YOUR LIST. HE WILL FIGURE OUT YOUR ID COMPUTER ADDRESS.

PLEASE SEND A COPY OF THIS E-MAIL TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS, And ask them to PASS IT ON IMMEDIATELY!

Kent Trading Standards advise you to look at the hoax slayer website www.hoax-slayer.com before passing on similar looking warning messages asking you to "copy this email to all your friends".

Hoax-Slayer is dedicated to debunking email hoaxes, thwarting Internet scammers, combating spam, and educating web users about email and Internet security issues. Hoax-Slayer allows Internet users to check the veracity of common email hoaxes and aims to counteract criminal activity by publishing information about common types of Internet scams. Hoax-Slayer also includes anti-spam tips, computer and email security information, articles about true email forwards, and much more.

There are literally dozens of other versions of the hoax. In many cases, the versions are almost identical except for the email address of the supposed hacker or virus. All are equally nonsensical and should be disregarded. At any one time, there may be a number of different versions of the hoax circulating. Bogus warnings such as this do nothing more than clutter email inboxes, blogs and forums with even more utterly useless information.

To report any concerns you have call Trading Standards via Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.