Email purports to be from real company BH Live and tells recipient they have tickets for Peter Pan at Bournemouth Pavilion

A warning has been issued about what has already become known as the "Peter Pan virus" after thousands of people received a scam email claiming they had booked tickets to see a pantomime in Bournemouth this Christmas.

Hundreds of thousands of people across the UK and further afield are thought to have received the message, described as one of the most convincing examples yet of a phishing email designed to install malicious software – known as malware – on to the recipient's computer.

Phishing emails typically purport to come from organisations such as banks or HM Revenue & Customs, but this one is different: claiming to be sent from ticketing company BH Live, it states that the recipient has booked nine tickets to the 7pm performance of Peter Pan at Bournemouth Pavilion on 23 December.

The email typically states that a MasterCard whose last four digits are 7006 was used to make the £145 purchase. It invites people to open some e-tickets which it says are attached.

BH Live is a real company – it is a leisure, events and ticketing organisation whose venues include Bournemouth Pavilion, which is indeed hosting a production of Peter Pan this Christmas. However, the company, which has been deluged with phone calls from worried recipients, said the emails did not come from BH Live or its network, and urged those who had received them not to open any attachments or click on any links.

According to Derek Knight at the My Online Security blog, those who open the attachment may find they have downloaded viruses and malware such as Cryptolocker. Cryptolocker typically locks the recipient out of their computer until they pay a ransom to the scammers.

"Almost all of these have a password-stealing component. Many of them are also designed to specifically steal your Facebook and other social network login details."