Scammers are defrauding victims out of millions of pounds through computer screen-sharing scams, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned.
The regulator said fraudsters were "taking advantage of a growing familiarity with requests for screen sharing".
By accessing victims' digital devices, they gained access to online banking details.
The FCA said people who use video conferencing and work from home are particularly at risk.
The pandemic has made screen-sharing more common, so people may not be as surprised by the request as they would have before remote working.
More than £25million was lost to such scams between January 1 2021 and March 31 this year, with victims aged from 18 to over 70, the FCA said.
Have you been a victim of a screen-sharing scam? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
From July to December last year, the number of screen-sharing scam cases jumped by 86 per cent when compared with the same period in 2020.
In one case seen by the FCA, a 59-year-old woman lost more than £48,000 as scammers used screensharing software to take over her computer and access her banking details.
The victim had clicked on an advert for Bitcoin investment and received a call from people claiming to be financial advisers - in reality, they were part of an organised financial crime network.
Offering to complete the first investment for her, they asked her to download remote technology, which gave the scammers access to all the financial details on her computer.
Scammers accessed her banking details and pension, and applied for loans on her behalf.
The FCA said its helpline got thousands of similar calls.
Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: "Investment scams can happen over many months, but sharing your screen without making the proper checks can change everything in an instant. Once scammers gain access to your screen, they have complete control.
"That means access to your sensitive banking and investment information, the freedom to browse at their leisure, and the ability to take whatever details they want. It can affect any investor, no matter how experienced."
