A woman is urging people to be on their guard against scammers who promise to fix computer viruses over the phone for a small fee.

The woman said she was called three times by somebody claiming to be from Microsoft who told to switch on her computer so that they could fix the problem.

She said: “Older people are especially vulnerable as they don’t know so much about computers and could worry about viruses which they don’t understand. Targeting like this is terrible.”

The Fens is being targeted by a number of phone scams according to a national organisation that is warning people to not fall prey as part of National Scams Awareness Month.

Kris Hicks of CPR Call Blocker said: “Criminals and unscrupulous call centres are continually finding new ways of scamming people out of money and our own research shows that 15 per cent of UK consumers have lost money to scams in the last 12 months with four per cent of those losing over £10,000.

“People are being urged to trust their gut instincts when it comes to being offered services over the phone and if it sounds to good to be true then it most likely is.”CPR Call Blocker is advising people locally to be aware of the following:

• Pension scams – offering large returns on investment, pressure to sign paperwork and access to pensions before the age of 55.

• Investment scams – unsolicited calls offering wine, shares, rare earth minerals and land investments overseas.

• Government Grant Department scam – people offered a grant of several thousand pounds and being asked for a fee to release the money.

• Vishing – scammers impersonate someone from a bank, police or other plausible organisation and manipulating you into sharing financial and personal details.

If people in Cambridgeshire feel that they have been the target of a scam they can contact Citizens Advice on 03454 04 05 06, report the scam to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 and make friends and neighbours aware so that they do not become victims themselves.