Scammers pretending to work for Sky have conned victims out of more that £270,000 through an automated phone call scam.
Action Fraud UK took to Twitter to issue a warning about the scam after the police received more than 200 reports about the scam.
The scam uses an automated phone call, claiming to be from network provider Sky, to persuade the victim to agree to speak to a call-handler, who will then try to remotely access the victim's computer so that they can steal their financial information.
Action Fraud UK have said: "The fraudsters use a variety of lures, such as discounts and free technical support, to get the recipient of the call to 'press 1' at the end of the automated message.
"When victims do this, they are automatically connected to criminals posing as Sky customer service representatives who attempt to remotely access the victim's computer in order to steal their money, as well as personal and financial information."
One of the victims took to Twitter to share his story: "Sky TV scam. After complaining about the router playing up a engineer phoned me and told me to use my laptop and he will try to correct the router. During this he removed £1537.04 from my bank and tried to take another £2900.00 but the bank stopped it. SKY CUSTOMER BEWARE."
A total of over £270,000 has been stolen from victims due to the scam, Action Fraud says.
They have now issued tips on how to avoid being tricked by the scam:
"Never install any software as a result of a cold call. Unsolicited requests for remote access to your computer should always raise a red flag.
"Always question uninvited approaches in case it's a scam. Instead contact the company directly using a known email or phone number.
"Have the confidence to refuse unusual requests for personal or financial information. It's easy to feel embarrassed when faced with unexpected or complex conversations. But it's okay to stop the discussion if you do not feel in control of it."
For more information, you can visit Action Fraud UK here.
