What happens when a PC scammer calls

Sometimes they are calling from Microsoft; other times they are from the technical support department of a computer manufacturer. Either way, the phone scammers targeting British computer users are calling more and more people each day.

Computeractive has seen a growing number of reports from people who have been cold-called at home, usually by a caller with an Indian accent who claims to have found a problem with the person's computer.

Usually the callers show the user a series of harmless error messages that exist on every computer and claim that these are evidence of problems that need to be fixed urgently. They then take a fee between £80 and £300 from the user by credit or debit card, before 'fixing' the non-existent problems or attempting to sell further 'anti-virus' software at an inflated price.

In a recent twist it is claimed scammers have been calling from agencies that will take people's phone numbers off marketing lists, again for a fee. This is a service that anyone can get for nothing through the Telephone Preference Service.

When the 'technical support' scammers called one Computeractive reader he took down their contact number and passed it on to us. We called the line back and made a video and audio recording of what the technician did to our test computer.

Click here to view our video of how the PC support cold call scam works.

If you are called by these or similar scammers the best thing to do is put the telephone down immediately. A Microsoft representative told Computeractive: "These scams are not new. We would like to remind users of Microsoft software that the company does not keep track of consumers that purchase their software and does not directly contact consumers for any reason whatsoever. Do not to trust any caller claiming to be from Microsoft and needing access to your home PC."

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