Kingston Council is warning local residents to beware of computer virus phone scams.

The scam involves people being phoned by someone claiming to work for a large and well-known computer firm, who advises them that their computer may have a virus.  The caller then directs the resident to a part of the computer’s operating system which seems to indicate that there is a problem that needs to be fixed.   If you allow these people access to your computer, they will charge you for carrying out unnecessary work. 

Apart from the basic scam that you’re paying to have a ‘problem’ fixed that does not exist, this particular scam runs the additional risk that if you allow access to your computer, programs may be installed on it which may enable the caller to get further personal information such as bank details.  If you have suitable firewalls set up, have up to date anti-virus protection in place and take sensible precautions to not open suspicious emails from unknown sources then you are unlikely to be at risk.

If you receive one of these phone calls, the advice from Trading Standards is to hang up immediately and under no circumstances give the caller any personal information, credit/debit card details or allow them to access your computer.

To report this or similar types of scam or for more advice on how to spot scams, please contact Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 or visit  www.direct.gov.uk.  Alternatively, you can contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or at www.actionfraud.org.uk where you can report this type of scam and other fraud.