THE landlords of a village pub are warning other businesses to be on their guard after they were targeted by an email scam.

Ian Boyington and his wife, Gillian, who run The Golden Lion at Great Barugh, alerted police after they became suspicious.

“It all starts with an email from a Dr Allan Bradley, or Dr Allan Brad, who says he is the welfare officer from a reputable company asking to book meals for 15 workers,” said Mr Boyington.

“After replying to him he then sends confirmation asking you to take his credit card details and transfer a considerable amount of money from his account to yours.

“He then asks you to keep an amount as a deposit and send the rest on to another company, in our case a hire car firm, and that when the group arrive they will pay all the outstanding balance and expenses incurred.”

Mr Boyington added that the company names used existed so that the email looks genuine.

“In all the emails the English is not quite right and the amount of money did not tally with the price of the meals we would have been supplying which is why we were suspicious.”

The couple, who have run The Golden Lion for two-and-a-half years wanted to warn other pubs and hotels in the area.

Mrs Boyington said: “Many businesses are struggling at the moment and it would be so easy to fall for something like this, especially at this time of year.”

Det Sgt Dave Edwards, of North Yorkshire Police’s financial investigation unit, said business owners should be wary of anyone asking for money.

“If you are remotely suspicious, do an internet search for the name of the person contacting you as this can help you to establish whether they are genuine of not,” he added.

Det Sgt Edwards said that common clues that emails were a scam included poor grammar, reservations for groups and the sender being a ‘doctor’, ‘reverend’ or ‘travel agent’.

“The majority of offenders are foreign, which makes it very difficult to recoup your money, locate and identify the offenders, or obtain the cooperation of overseas police forces.”

Anyone who is concerned about an email they have received should contact police on 0845 6060247.