Dyfed-Powys Police is issuing a warning on computer fraudsters after receiving a report of a woman from Pembrokeshire being duped out of £500.

Dyfed Powys Police’s Digital Communications and Cyber Crime Unit (DCCU) is investigating the fraud and has also received reports of other attempts to de-fraud computer users in the Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Powys.

The fraudsters call their victims on the phone and ask to access their computer remotely as the system has a fault or a virus that they need to work on.

The fraudsters will normally need to install software to allow them access to the victim’s computer and the victim will need to allow this to happen.

Once the fraudsters gain access, they are able to steal information and sometimes extort money with the promise of solving a problem that doesn’t exist.

They can also lock the computer or render it inoperative and demand money from the victim to make the computer usable once more.

Detective Sergeant Rob Gravelle said: “We've had several reports in the last few days of scammers calling residents in Dyfed Powys trying to gain access to their PCs remotely to steal their identification, passwords and in one case a woman from Pembrokeshire has handed over £500.

“I can’t stress strongly enough the need for vigilance and for people to be aware that legitimate computing companies such as Microsoft would never phone a customer in this manner and would never ask for personal details or money over the phone or via email. If you receive such a call please hang up immediately and report it to the DCCU by calling 101.”

The DCCU is a specialist team at Dyfed Powys Police brought together to reduce cyber and cyber-enabled crime. It is a busy unit consisting of specialist detectives, high tech forensic investigators, analysts and researchers. They investigate all manner of digital and cyber-crime ranging from online fraud to child sexual exploitation.

To prevent cyber-crime, the DCCU works in partnership with Get Safe Online providing people with the knowledge and confidence to protect themselves from cyber-crime.

Tony Neate, CEO of Get Safe Online, said: “At Get Safe Online, we are committed to providing advice to help people use the internet confidently and securely. Armed with the right knowledge, we can all continue to enjoy using the internet safely.”