Please beware of a phone scam doing the rounds at present.

Today, a number of people living in Stonehaven have been in touch, having received phone calls from a fast-talking computer technician claiming a virus is on their home computer which needs to be removed.

The route the phonecall takes is roughly as follows :

1. The caller asks whether there is a computer in the house.
2. If a "yes" is received, the caller explains (s)he works for Microsoft, ClickClick, NerdSoft or some other technical sounding company.
3. To add authenticity, the address being phoned is read out along with the phone number (this info is read from the phone book).
4. The caller then explains that there is a virus on the computer spewing out personal information.
5. Householders may then be guided to a web page showing a list of "problems" on the PC or the event viewer which will show errors (which incidentally is fairly normal)
6. If questioned, the caller may start to get quite aggressive and insist the virus has to be removed.
7. Remote control software is then used to "remove" the problems.
8. Householders are charged £185 for the removal of the problem.

Neither Microsoft nor any respectible support company will cold call people offering techical support in this way. This is a scam. Please hang up if you're unlucky enough to receive this type of call.