A TRICK invitation which asks recipients to give bank account details in return for a share of a Nigerian windfall is now being sent by e-mail.

According to Bolton and Bury Chamber local businesses have been receiving letters and faxes on this theme for several years. But now the same dodgy message is arriving by e-mail.

Kay Gregson, the Chamber's Director of Customer Service, said: "We have had a dozen or so complaints about these e-mails over the last couple of months. Anybody receiving them should simply trash them."

The latest e-mail offer purports to be from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation and offers a share of 40.5 million US dollars which officials claim they need to send outside the country.