A BROMSGROVE man who almost fell victim to a computer scam has warned others to be on their guard.
The resident contacted The Standard after he received a call from a man claiming to be from Microsoft.
He told the man problems had been found on his computer and asked him to turn on his PC.
When he did, he asked him to open different files and said he could now confirm there were issues with his machine.
The resident said: “He was very plausible and I think I was a little bit gullible.
“But, when he started to give the hard sell approach I suspected he was not genuine.”
He told the resident that his computer security system was out of date and he needed to pay £10 for one year’s cover, £50 for five years’ cover and or £210 for lifetime protection.
He was also operating the man’s machine remotely and he could not do anything to stop it.
The resident added: “He told me my security ran out a few days ago and when I asked him why he had not contacted me before that had happened, he said they did not do that.
“He said if I wanted to be able to use my computer again, I would have to pay up.”
The man asked the caller for a number so he could get back to him about the protection, but he refused to give him one.
After getting off the phone, the man’s wife also looked up Microsoft on her tablet which confirmed the firm never cold-called to get custom.
He then took it to a reputable PC company which analysed the machine and found three viruses on it.
The man called the police and was put onto Action Fraud where he reported the incident.
“I thought if he has called me, he may have contacted other local people and they might be a bit more gullible than me and they might end up paying out a lot of money for no reason.
“I want to warn other residents not to fall for this scam.”
