The e-mail is sent specifically to NAB customers globally, as well as the customers of up to 12 other banks worldwide.

The scam works via a hoax e-mail sent to NAB customers, which says "People are starting panic withdrawals, some of the accounts were reported closed due to technical reasons, many ATMs are not operating. Does it seem that one of the Australia's greatest goes bankrupt?"

"The full story can be found here: [Malicious URL]" Well, hope that isn't true... Anyway you'd rather check your balance."

NAB customers are asked to click on a URL that loads Trojan-style code onto a user machine which automatically saves and sends password and login details to a third party when the user goes to the actual bank Web site.

The malicious Web site, and code, was first discovered by Websense labs in Australia on April 5, 2006. The code directly affects a flaw discovered in Internet Explorer, for which a patch was released on April 11 this year. Mozilla Firefox users are also at risk.