A COUPLE are warning people to be wary of cold calls after hackers took control of their computer, demanded their bank details and tried to con them into spending hundreds of pounds.

Alan and Janey Jones, of Upper Clatford, narrowly escaped serious damage to their computer and loss of personal information after they allowed hackers, claiming to be from Microsoft, to access their computer.

The hackers, who claimed to be from the company’s “software department”, convinced Mrs Jones that she had issues with her PC before guiding her through steps to give them remote access.

Once inside the hackers pointed to fake errors in the system before offering Mrs Jones one year’s protection at the cost of £70 or five years protection for £211.

Still unaware that it was a scam Mrs Jones quickly handed over her bank details before later being told that the payment was unsuccessful.

Talking about her experience the 62-year-old phlebotomist said: “It was at this point I became suspicious but then Lloyds Bank rang me to tell me it was a scam and they told me to shut down my computer immediately “I was shocked but thank goodness they did.”

Asked how she felt about what had happened she said: “Really angry. I felt so stupid.

“I was absolutely shaken and slightly tearful. Anyone who knows me will tell you that’s not me.”

The recent increase in bogus calls was reported on the Andover Advertiser website on Saturday after social media posts suggested that hackers were targeting the area.

One local computer expert claimed he had been called 10 times about the scam in just a week.

Ed Bernard, owner of Elpatech, said: “This scam has been going on for years but they seem to be particularly targeting Andover at the moment.

“I’ve had up to 10 people who have called me to ask if it is a genuine call or not. At least half of those times they have got into the computer and done varying amounts of damage.

“I normally get one call every couple of weeks with something like this but it seems like they are targeting Andover numbers.”

A statement on Microsoft’s official website states: “Neither Microsoft nor our partners make unsolicited phone calls (also known as cold calls) to charge you for computer security or software fixes.

“Never give control of your computer to a third party unless you can confirm that it is a legitimate representative of a computer support team with whom you are already a customer.”

Microsoft also urges all those who think they have been targeted to report the incident to Action Fraud.