I AM getting calls from customers reporting that they are being rung by a caller claiming to be from TalkTalk saying that there is a fault with their router and that they need to be able to have access to it via the computer.

Be warned that this is a variation on an earlier scam, where you are offered a refund as you ‘have been paying too much’, (which also happens during this call) and then there is a ‘mistake’ and you are ‘refunded too much’ by accident. After much anguish from your caller claiming he will lose his job if you don’t immediately pay him back, you are encouraged to repay via the bank, Paypal, or via Western Union at a Post Office.

Through the Times, I would like to warn readers not to be drawn in by this scam. If they pay out any money, they will almost certainly lose it as the bank or Paypal will not refund them as they have made the payment voluntarily. Just remember that no matter what they show you on your screen, there is no refund and no over-payment.

Stephen Fryer

Buckland Computers

Yelverton