Consumer champion Martin Lewis has issued a stark warning over scammers after an elderly relative was tricked over the phone.
On ITV's Good Morning Britain, a discussion took place about the rise of a new scam that sees people receive a text seemingly from a family member or their children claiming they've lost or broken their phone. And Martin revealed that one of his relatives had been conned a day ago, after receiving a phone call from a person claiming to be from technology brand Microsoft Security Essentials.
Martin was alerted to what had happened and helped his elderly relative. Luckily, they managed to prevent most of the money from leaving any bank accounts, and any that did go out was being refunded.
Read More: Martin Lewis issues warning for anyone going on holiday after viewer's heartbreaking story
Martin told co-host Susanna Reid he was now going to help them to check if they had been the victim of ID fraud, with their computer and passwords also compromised. He shared the "upsetting" news on the show, before sharing advice with viewers, reports The Mirror.
He explained: "Scammers are very, very sophisticated. A close relative of mine was scammed yesterday, it was quite upsetting.
"They were called by Microsoft Security Essentials, which is not Microsoft Security Essentials. It's scammers saying that their computer had been defrauded, and in four hours on the phone thinking this person was helping them, gave all their details.
"An elderly relative of mine. The honest truth is there are many times you will be called up by people trying to help you with scams. That's what the scammers do.
"I spoke to this person and as soon as they said 'Microsoft Security Essentials called me' I said it's a scam, they won't call you."
He then advised the relative to call all of their banks and credit card providers to stop the payments. Martin added: "It is so easy. I know solicitors, I know university lecturers who have fallen for scams.
"You have to be sceptical. If anybody calls you out of the blue that you are not expecting, be sceptical about it. It's one of the reasons the Government is rightly going to block all financial cold calling on the phone."
Read Next:
Scam warning as fraudsters infiltrate legitimate text messages
Four scams to watch out for as high-tech criminals turn to Artificial Intelligence
Warning on impersonation scams to watch out for as copycat fraudsters try to con you
Only Fools and Horses star Sue Holderness issues warning after being conned by online scammers
Warning over 'Argos' air fryer scam which steals card details and empties bank accounts
