13th January 2012 Be wary of IT telephone contactsThe Office of Fair Trading is advising consumers and businesses to be wary if they receive telephone calls from callers claiming to represent IT suppliers out of the blue. The Office has recently been contacted by consumers and local businesses who have received calls saying that there are problems or warnings on their computers. In this case the callers claimed to be from Microsoft or Windows Maintenance. Following an initial chat the callers turned the conversation to how much they would charge to deal with the problem. None of those who were contacted agreed to pay for the “repair service” however they could see how easy it would be to panic consumers into paying for this “service”. Although legitimate companies may contact consumers by telephone it is important to make checks on the company before agreeing to any services they offer:-
Consumers may wish to consider asking for their names to be removed from telemarketing lists. To do so you should contact the Telephone Preference Service, telephone 0845 070 0707 or visit its website www.tpsonline.org.uk. Protect your financial information - never give your bank account or card details to someone you aren’t satisfied is legitimate.
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