A SPATE of telephone calls by a rogue company, scaring people into believing their computers are infected by a virus, is causing concern to Trading Standards officers in Cornwall.

The telephone calls are being made by a company claiming to be able to fix virus problems online. 

Several people have been concerned by the calls and have been persuaded to part with fairly large sums of money for the company to fix the problem. 

Trading Standards believes the company is simply scaremongering to scam money out of local residents.

The company appears to be randomly telephoning people and frightening them into believing their computer is infected by viruses and needs immediate attention, said Cathy Brown from Trading Standards. 

Once the person agrees for the work to be done they are asked to log on to a website for the work to be undertaken. Payment is then being asked for by debit card and is very often higher than the original quote given.

Generally, it is a very bad idea to get work done or to purchase goods as a result of an unexpected telephone call as you have no idea who you are dealing with.

These traders can be impossible to track down if something goes wrong and invariably they charge way over the odds for work that is often completely unnecessary.

Rather worryingly in this scenario, what people dont realise is that as soon as they give permission to allow this company access to their computer, the company will have access to all the information stored on the hard drive including bank details, passwords, holiday bookings and all other personal information. 

In the worst case scenario, such information could be used by fraudsters to extract money from bank accounts or passed on to burglars.

Trading Standards advises anyone who has concerns about their computer to contact a legitimate trader who advertises locally.