INTERNET users are being warned to beware of cute tactics to trick them out of their passwords and pin.

Scientists have discovered we are more likely to hand over confidential details such as credit card details when presented with loveable images such as a teddy bear.

Volunteers were shown 20 websites, some of which were bogus, and the one that fooled most users into handing over details was one featuring a cute animated bear, as reported in the New Scientist magazine.

And users found the animation so appealing that many reloaded the page just to see it again.

The researchers at Harvard University said: "Some visual deception attacks can fool even the most sophisticated users."

When asked which sites they thought were fake, the surfers guessed wrong 40% of the time.

While the best `phishing' sites - those designed to trick people out of their personal details - fooled 90% of participants.