Burglars are using information contained in 'out of office' auto-reply emails to target the homes of workers on holiday.

Criminals are buying lists of email addresses over the internet and sending mass-mailings in the hope of receiving automatic 'out of office' emails identifying employees away on holiday, according to blue chip user group The Corporate IT Forum (Tif).

Thieves cross-reference information in the email reply with publicly available data from online directories such as 192.com or bt.com. The burglars can often discover the name, address and telephone number of the person.

'You wouldn't go on holiday with a note pinned to your door saying who you were, how long you were away for and when you were coming back so why would you put this in an email?' said Tif chief executive David Roberts.

Tif has drawn up guidelines for workers to avoid falling victim, including keeping messages bland; redirecting enquiries to another colleague; not giving out your job title, not saying you are away on holiday; and not including personal contact details.