Scammers are trying to steal bank details and passwords

Jun 20, 2014 17:51 GMT  ·  By

Phone scams launched by people claiming to work for Microsoft have been around for a while, but the UK police are now warning that such attempts are on the rise in the Cumbria region.

Police officers investigating the case revealed that, in most cases, phone scammers pretend to be Microsoft employees who found malware infections or software errors on people’s computers and need to connect to them remotely.

Once they are granted access to the victims' computers, the scammers are looking for passwords and financial details, while some are even asking for compensation in return for repairing some issues.

“These fraudsters can be very convincing to people who may not know a lot about computers. Don’t allow anyone you don’t trust access, remotely or otherwise, to your computer. The only way to remain completely safe is to not engage at all. My advice is to shut down, hang up, or close the door, to anyone you do not know. It isn’t rude – it is a sensible way to keep safe,” community safety officer for south Cumbria Terry Belshaw was quoted as saying by NewsAndStar.

Needless to say that everyone who receives such a call is recommended to hang up on the scammers and call the police on 101 to make sure that no other people in your area are falling victim to this trick.