Over the last few weeks, some members have been contacted by callers claiming to be from International Routing System, Quick Soft Fix or even Microsoft and asking them to switch on their PC in order to remove corrupted files that had been reported.

The caller offers to help fix the problem via a website where, in fact, the caller remotely takes over the victim’s computer. The victim is asked to pay a fee – typically $49 – for the ‘problems’ to be sorted out. If you receive such a call, the best thing you can do is just hang up.

If you allow remote access, you are opening your computer to these scammers and this could lead to identity theft and credit card fraud. Bear in mind that Microsoft and other companies do not have our telephone numbers; these scammers are cold callers working on the assumption that most households in Australia have a computer, and they exploit our natural concerns that the PC may have picked up a virus.

For more on this go to www.eatonbray.com/news/2010/07/international-routing-system-scam.