The New Zealand Law Society is warning lawyers to beware of a fake email which uses the name of a genuine accountant and which invites the recipient to open an attachment.

The email has been sent without the knowledge of the accountant and almost certainly contains malware.

The subject line states "Fyi" and the email contains a short statement "See the attached shared on dropbox and let me know if you need help with anything".

It is then signed "Cheers [First Name]"

The details of the accounting firm are shown at the end of the email, along with a correct URL for the website. However, the phone number given differs from the real number.