Advice Direct Scotland has warned that fraudulent emails have circulated inviting staff to fake Zoom meetings, pretending to be from colleagues within their organisation.

However, while the link appears genuine, it then directs users to a spoof page for email provider Outlook, where it requests log-in details.

Criminals in possession of such information can then hack people’s personal information or access other sensitive documents.

Businesses have been urged to check that domain names for Zoom meetings contain the address “zoom.us” and look for the valid security certificate.

The warning was shared on Trading Standards Scotland’s weekly ScamShare alert, which monitors scams circulating in Scotland.

Advice Direct Scotland, which runs consumeradvice.scot – Scotland’s national consumer advice service – warned that people can still fall victim to personal fraud in a professional environment.

Colin Mathieson, spokesperson for Advice Direct Scotland, said: “We often associate scams like this with individuals rather than it being a risk for businesses. But we know companies are increasingly relying on Zoom for important meetings, and clearly the criminal community is noticing this too.

“The fraud may happen within the confines of work, but the consequences can be quite serious for workers from a personal perspective. By inadvertently providing email log-in details, scammers can then access a wealth of private and sensitive information.

“Managers and their staff should always be sure that Zoom meeting invites are legitimate, and that you only ever enter email logins on secure websites.”