The Isle of Wight Council’s Trading Standards service is advising residents about a scam involving people claiming to be from software firm Microsoft.
Residents have reported they have been called by someone claiming to be from Microsoft. The caller states a virus has been detected on their PC and they require remote access to clear it.
The caller then asks for anything up to £400 to be paid using a credit or debit card and have also been known to try and trick the computer owner into giving details that allows them remote access to their PC.
This is a scam and anyone who receives a call like this should never give out personal details and should hang up and contact Trading Standards.
Microsoft does not directly contact customers for any reason and advises anyone who thinks they may have been a victim of a phone scam to do the following:
·Change their computer’s password, change the password on their main email account and change the password for any financial accounts, especially bank and credit cards
·Scan their computer with the Microsoft Safety Scanner to find out if they have malware installed on their computer
·Contact their bank and credit card companies.
Meanwhile an elderly Isle of Wight resident is offering to help people avoid being scammed after becoming a victim himself.
Eighty four year old Ron Watts from Ryde lost a substantial amount of money after being duped into thinking he won nearly £8000 from a firm called Dolices Gourmandises.
Since then he has received mail from many different companies and was forced to change his telephone number as he was receiving dozens of calls from scammers.
He also receives up to 35 scam letters a day.
Amanda Gregory, regulatory services manager at Isle of Wight Council and says: “Unfortunately Ron’s case is all too familiar, especially among elderly people. Scammers can come across very convincingly and do trick some people into parting with their cash.
“We would again repeat the message that if it is too good to be true, it usually is and if you are unsure, contact trading standards or speak to your friends and family.
“We are very grateful Ron is supporting trading standards by giving advice to residents and hopefully his story will help prevent others from being scammed.”
Trading Standards can be contacted on 823370.
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