Halton Borough Council has put out a warning after a Widnes resident has this afternoon received a scam telephone call from somebody claiming to be from Microsoft.
The caller, whose first language wasn’t English, told the resident that his computer had been hacked.
The resident suspected it was a scam and put the phone down.
Microsoft does not send unsolicited email messages or make unsolicited phone calls to request personal or financial information, or to fix your computer.
Halton Borough Council’s Executive Board Member for Trading Standards, Cllr Dave Cargill. said, “There are a number of different Microsoft tech support scams around – some use text, emails or phone calls but the more sophisticated scams use internet pop-ups or create fake blue screens or system error messages.”
You can find out more about the range of Microsoft scams around and how to protect yourself by visiting Microsoft’s Tech support scams page (www.microsoft.com then search ‘tech support scams’)
If you or somebody you know has been caught out by a scam please contact one of our specialist officers, Linda or Sue on 0151 511 8785 or 0151 511 8775, who are already working with people in Halton who have lost thousands of pounds to scams.
If you need advice on anything else please contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline or 03454 04 05 06.