Computer firm issues conmen warning (From Clacton and Frinton Gazette)
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Computer firm issues conmen warning
12:00pm Sunday 15th July 2012 in News
A COMPUTER repair firm from Clacton is warning residents to be on their guard against telephone conmen.
Jon Cowan, from Clacton Computer Services, in Fairfield Road, said residents have been called up by fraudsters claiming to be from Microsoft.
They then ask for permission to access their home computers to supposedly rid them of viruses.
Mr Cowan said: “The company will then ask the victim for a substantial sum of money to rid the bogus virus from their machine.
“Microsoft would never ring people’s homes and offer this service.
“The people behind this scam are trying to get money from people who are not that confident with computers and offering inflated priced subscriptions to keep their home computers clean.
“There are lots of free and paid for anti-virus programs and anti-malware programs that will keep users computers safe.”
Mr Cowan said he has had to attend to a number of customers who have been victims of the scam.
He said computer owners should seek a professional computer technician if they are concerned their computer has been corrupted by a virus.
