DON'T be fooled!

That is the warning going out to Hampshire businesses after an Eastleigh caf boss received a notice from a bogus agency ordering her to pay a £135 registration fee or be hit with a £5,000 fine.

Owner of Caf Fiesta in High Street, Sue Shell, was shocked when the legitimate-looking final notice from the 'Data Protection Agency' landed on her doorstep demanding payment.

The imposing notice claiming to be from the agency's enforcement section in Warrington even said that not complying with the demand was a criminal offence.

Hampshire businesses were warned to be on their guard last November after hundreds of firms across the county were targeted by Data Protection Agency Services demanding payment in similar letters.

Trading standards officers advised anyone who received that sort of mail to ignore it.

Now Eastleigh police have put out a fresh warning after this latest scam which indicates the agency may have started up another ruthless campaign in the region.

Mrs Shell, 47, noticed something was up when she couldn't find a telephone number on the paper to give the agency a call.

She said: "I started to notice something sinister when I couldn't find a number. I was shocked by the notice and concerned that I was being asked to give so much personal and financial information on the form. I'd never seen anything like it so I wanted to talk to someone about it to make things clearer."

After finding no number, Mrs Shell also noticed that the envelope the form was sent in hadn't been franked and a second class stamp had been used.

It was also addressed to Caf Fiesta rather than Mrs Shell herself.

She said: "It didn't add up. That's when I took the letter to the police and they confirmed that it was a scam.

"It is worrying because I think a lot of people would be taken in by this sort of thing. Whoever is doing it deserves to be taken to court."

A spokesman for Eastleigh police, said: "People need to be aware that this sort of thing does happen and take sensible precautions to prevent being duped. Under no circumstances should anyone give out any personal information."