Police warn of ongoing computer scam

Published on 09/02/2013 14:06

A long-running scam has prompted a warning from Lincolnshire Police to computer owners.

Scammers are contacting members of the public by telephone stating that they have a virus on their computer or that they are due an upgrade on their software.

Once the scammer engages with the member of the public they will try to convince them that they need urgent attention to their computer. At this stage they will either ask for a sum of money to perform the upgrade or will try to get the call receiver to click on a website that infects the computer.

Community safety officer Gill Finnn said: “Although this scam has been around for period of time, we are still getting members the public who are not only still receiving the calls but also falling prey to the scam. Once your computer is infected, it will be a trip to the local computer shop at cost to remove any virus or encrypted data. You will possibly lose any personal data such as photos or files.”

If you receive such a phonecall, end it immediately.

Do not follow any links to websites, these will most certainly be a ploy to gain access to your computer via download.

If a computer scammer has targeted you to view any websites, turn off your computer immediately and ask a trusted source to check your operating system to see if it has been infected.

To report or gain further details on current scams, contact Action Fraud via www.actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040.

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Police warn of ongoing computer scam

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