West Mercia Police are encouraging the public to be aware of a phone scam in which fraudsters claim to be calling on behalf of internet providers.

In the elaborate scam, the fraudsters will ask the victims if they have been having difficulties with their internet. If they say yes, they will ask them to give them remote access to their computer to rectify the problem.

Once they have accessed the computer they will state that there is a problem, and they are due compensation. They will then ask the victims to log in to their online banking to see that money has been transferred to them.

However the money transferred will be more than the caller has said. Typically they will state that this has been made in error, and they need to transfer it back to them either through a MoneyGram at the post office or via the Western Union.

A man from Kidderminster was the victim of this scam. He received a phone call from someone claiming to be from his internet provider, stating his account had been hacked and he needed a new router in order to fix the problem.

The victim logged into his online banking, and saw that the scammer had transferred a substantial amount of money to him as compensation for the inconvenience. The scammer told the victim this was too much and in order to return this to them he would need to send a MoneyGram to Thailand. He did this, but became suspicious when they stated they had sent a further sum of money because the transaction did not work. When he visited his bank, he discovered the scammers had not transferred money to him but had hacked into his computer and moved money between his accounts, before telling him to withdraw it and send it to them via the MoneyGram.

Last month similar offences were reported in Leamington and Rugby in Warwickshire.

West Mercia Police are offering the following advice:

• Never hand over personal details over the phone.

• Your internet provider would not remotely access your computer, without arranging this with you. If you receive a call out of the blue do not allow access.

• Do not transfer money to someone you do not know.

• Please share this warning with elderly friends and relatives

If you receive a call like this, please do not engage with the fraudsters, hang up and report it to be police by calling 101 or contacting www actionfraud.police.uk.