People are being warned once more about an aggressive telephone scam in which fraudsters pretend to be from Microsoft.

The Office of Consumer Affairs says a large number of residents have received calls in which they are advised that their computers have sent out a “fault” message to Microsoft and need to be repaired remotely.

“These are hoax calls and the public are advised to hang up immediately,” Consumer Affairs said in a statement today.

“The scam is a scheme to steal money and personal information from the consumer’s computer. This is not a new scam as it appeared in 2014 but has been revived in 2015 more aggressively.

“Microsoft has no connection with these calls and will not call your home to offer virus protection.

“These calls are aimed at gaining remote access to your computer and collecting exorbitant fees for their services.

“According to Microsoft, after gaining access to the computer, these callers can then install malicious software, steal personal information, take control of the computer remotely or direct consumers to fraudulent websites where they are asked to enter their credit card information.

“Microsoft’s online safety and security centre states that neither Microsoft nor its partners make unsolicited phone calls.”

The caller may make the following claims to appear legitimate:

• your computer is infected with a virus and it has somehow reported that fact to the technical support company;

• your computer is infected with a virus and it is sending out spam e-mails to people;

• your computer is somehow reporting critical software or hardware errors to the technical support company, or sending out error messages, and it is in imminent danger of breaking or failing;

• your Windows Operating System is corrupted and about to fail;

Consumer Affairs advises residents to follow the following tips to protect themselves from scammers attempting to access their computer:

• never grant remote access to your computer to unknown parties. Scammers will ask you to go to your computer in order to access the problem and grant them access. Ignore their instructions. In order to get access they may ask you to enter in codes, instruct you to enter connection data into a form, request that you remove firewalls and other security measures, or ask you for other computer locating information;

• install a firewall and antivirus programme to protect your computer and personal information. Update these programs frequently;

• update your operating system and web browser software regularly;

• protect your passwords by keeping them in a safe place. Create different passwords for each online account that you have;

• never give personal or financial information to unsolicited callers;

• contact your service provider directly if you are concerned you may be exposed to viruses or other security threats;

• do not open or respond to e-mails or click links from unknown senders; this might infect your computer with malware, or confirm that a spammer has reached a valid address;

• if you do in fact have a problem, find a computer repair company you can trust.

Those residents who may have already been taken in by the scam are advised to contact their banks immediately to alert them to a possible breach.