Warning after woman robbed in '˜vishing' scam

The incident took place on Wednesday in the Kennoway area when the 73-year-old received a phone call from a man claiming to be from Microsoft who said that there was an issue with her computer.

After obtaining remote access to her computer, the man has accessed her online banking and taken a five-figure sum of money from an account.

Sergeant Craig Fyall of Levenmouth Police Station said: “These criminals claim to be from legitimate organisations and can be very convincing. They take advantage of people’s fears to obtain personal information and steal money.

“Always be wary of callers requesting access to devices such as computers, laptops or tablets. If this happens to you, advise the caller that you will contact the company on your own terms to discuss this and hang up.

“Find the company’s phone number from their official website or a previous correspondance with them and call them back on a different phone to verify this.

“These criminals target the elderly and vulnerable so please advise any friends, neighbours or relatives to be wary of such calls.

“We have a ‘Signpost to Safety’ leaflet which contains useful information about such scams and how to avoid them, and which are available from Levenmouth Police Station.”

Anyone with information about ‘vishing’ can contact Police Scotland on 101 or make an anonymous report to the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.