SCAMMERS have been using a Hampshire children's hospice in a bid to con money from the public.

Naomi House Hospice and Jacksplace based in Sutton Scotney near Winchester say that they have been notified that ‘malicious’ emails are being sent from someone posing as a representative of the charity.

More than 60 people have called Naomi House alerting the hospice about the scam prompting the charity to issue a warning.

A Naomi House spokesman told the Daily Echo believes the emails are a phishing scam which is a fraudulent practice of sending emails pretending to be from a reputable company in order to get people to reveal personal information like passwords and credit card numbers.

The emails appear to ask the recipient for a credit card details in order to pay an invoice which doesn't exist.

One email that has been seen by the Daily Echo read “Dear xxxx (name withheld) “Regarding the amount due 1217.89 GBP, we act on behalf of Practical Refrigeration Training Centre in order to collect the outstanding account value of your debt.

“We would like to remind you that the amount above was due for payment on 31.03.16 but as no payment has been received, your invoice is now considered as overdue. Please find a printable version of your invoice at the following link.”

The person who received the email was horrified but used humour to hit back hard.

He wrote back: “Dear Mr Fleming, Unfortunately the ‘Refrigeration Training’ has proven to be less practical than advertised – Mr xxxxx is currently trapped in a state of below zero hibernation and is therefore unable to answer your request.

“I apologise that we are unable to help at this time, I wish you better luck with your other ‘clients’ “I would also suggest also that for future communications you should endeavour to A:include the correct address of habitation for the person in question. B: use an email address that is not associated with a childrens’ hospice in central southern England.

I find this to be in very bad taste and I am copying in the hospice to make them aware.

Thanks for wasting my time.”

A statement from Naomi House, said: “Naomi House and Jacksplace have been notified by several members of the public that malicious emails are being sent from someone posing as a representative of the organisation.”

“We wish to reassure that our database has not been compromised. If you receive a suspicious looking email from a naomihouse.org.uk email address, please do not click on any links or follow any instructions contained within the email.”

The statement reiterated that the emails do not come from Naomi House’s computer network and anyone who has received a suspicious email is urged to report it to www.actionfraud.police.uk or call 03001232040.

Naomi house say they have reported the matter to Hampshire police.