Ecrime Scam

The information below has been circulated by Trading Standards.  This type of problem has been reported frequently by Home Watch Coordinators over recent years.  Trading Standards have achieved a good result however residents should continue to be wary of cold calls of this nature.
‘Microsoft’ Computer Scammer Brought to Justice
Specialist investigators from the National Trading Standards ecrime Team have been successful in prosecuting a trader involved in the Microsoft computer scam. The scam involved people from overseas call centres cold calling claiming to be ‘Microsoft Certified’ engineers or from a company working for the software giant.
Mr Mohammed Khalid Jamil was brought to justice after his company ‘Smart Support Guys’ tricked a large number of consumers into parting with money after being told they had serious faults on their computer and if not fixed could crash.  The call centre cold callers persuaded consumers that they could fix the problem if given remote access. They then charged between £35 and £150 for installing anti-malware software that Microsoft makes available free of charge.  
Mr Jamil was sentenced to 4 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months and fined £5000. He was also ordered to pay £5665 in compensation to his victims, many elderly, and £13929 in prosecution costs.
To report a scam or for general consumer advice please contact Citizen’s Advice Consumer Service on 08454 04 05 06 or visit
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/
Please advise members that they can also report concerns about fraud where computers/technology are involved to the national police Action Fraud.
www.actionfraud.police.uk     0300 123 2040