J.K. Rowling: Wizard woes

London, Feb. 2 (Reuters): Author J.K. Rowling has warned Harry Potter fans to watch out for Internet fraudsters claiming to sell electronic copies of her latest wizard saga ? they are trying to steal bank and credit card details.

In the latest ?phishing? scam, fans were asked to hand over their bank details to pay for a supposed copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which is to be published on July 16.

?Please, please protect yourselves, your computers and your credit cards and do not fall for these scams,? the writer said after her lawyers succeeded in closing down a fraudulent website that offered the latest Potter book in electronic form.

Rowling, whose tales of a teenage wizard have turned her into a multimillionaire and revived children?s passion for reading, warned that the conmen could reappear.

?I would bet the original manuscript of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince itself that this will not be the last attempt to con HP fans before publication of the book,? she said on her official site.

Telling fans never to trust anyone who offers downloads of Potter books, she said they could be laid open to computer viruses or hackers.

?The only genuine copies of Harry Potter remain the authorised traditional book or audio tapes/cassettes/CDs distributed through my publishers,? she added. Phishing frauds have become common over the last two years as more consumers do their personal banking on the Internet. Banks advise their customers to be wary of any e-mail asking for personal details.