Conmen are targeting Falmouth residents in an attempt to gain access to their PCs.

Police in the town are warning people to be wary of phone callers claiming to be from Microsoft.

A spokesman said: “Recently there have been a number of people in Falmouth falling prey to scams that leave them £400 or more out of pocket after someone claiming to be from Microsoft phones you at home and tells you their logs are picking up an infection from your computer.

“To gain credibility, the phone scammer may give you easily discoverable information, such as your name, address, and phone number - information available to any random telemarketer or scam caller with the right contacts.

“Once they've gained your attention, this bogus Microsoft 'tech' then instructs you to open Event Viewer and says that any errors reflected in that log are 'proof' of a virus.

“The scammer then directs you to ammyy.com and tells you to run the tool and give them the ID it provides, after which they're now able to get complete remote access to your PC.

“Anyone can dial a number and claim to be someone else; the real Microsoft doesn't call their customers to report virus infections.

“Never run any unknown program or install any remote access tool for someone unless you are 100% certain of their identity and trustworthiness.”

They added: “Your best defence? Use the same trick you use with other unwanted callers - hang up the phone.

“If you feel that you are having problems with your computer, always use a local computer engineer and not someone calling from a withheld or international number.”