Stephanie Ditchburn, of Queensbury Drive, Flint, received an email from a man posing as an American army sergeant who requested her private bank details to transfer $25 million into her account.

The 40-year-old says she is disgusted that the good name and reputation of soldiers who risk their lives is being used in vain.

"I was furious when I received this email," she said, "how dare people imitate soldiers?"

"They are conning people. The email said he wanted help to transfer funds from their bank account to mine until he returns home from Iraq.

"The email stated that the money had been found in various currencies, among weapons in Taliban enclosures in Iraq.

"They said they wanted someone they could trust to take care of the money, until they complete their mission.

"Then they will take a 60 per cent share of the money and leave me with the other 40 per cent! It's outrageous!"

Stephanie's husband William served in the Royal Navy for 23 years, and fought in Bosnia in the early 1990s.

"The way they word things is very convincing and I am weary that people who are older or more vulnerable could see that a soldier on the front line is asking for help and send their details," she said.

Stephanie said she has received hundreds of spam emails over the past four months.

"I normally reply with a message to say 'stop sending me these spam emails,' but they keep on coming," she added.

Ron Hughes, trading standards manager at Flintshire Council, said: "Our trading standards service is always happy to supplement previous advice about possible internet, e-mail and other scams where bank details are sought.

"These come in various forms and are sometimes known as 'phishing.'

"One of the most common forms is an email saying that you have won a competition or lottery and that you need to provide details to claim.

"The good news is that reports of incidents where someone had been conned by these email are very rare as most people have taken the advice that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

Mr Hughes added: "Unfortunately these emails appear too frequently and are a great nuisance. At the end of the day the best advice is not to respond to anyone by e-mail, telephone or letter to give bank or any other personal details.

"All banks offer advice to their customers about 'phishing' as sometimes scam emails purporting to come from banks are being received.

An advice leaflet about scam emails is available at www.flintshire.gov.uk/tradingstandards