AN ARDROSSAN resident is warning others to be on their guard after they were targeted in a scam by someone claiming to work for their internet service provider.

The local, who wishes to remain anonymous, spoke to the Herald to warn readers to be more vigilant and not be duped by scammers.

They explained: “A couple of weeks ago a message appeared intermittently on my TV saying that my router cannot connect with the internet. Being busy I did nothing about it but last week I got a phone call from a man who said he was from Talk Talk and they were aware I had an internet problem which, as a Talk Talk engineer, he would rectify.

“I was on the phone for well over an hour during which time I followed instructions on my laptop. He was actually taking me through the steps to be able to ‘control’ and gain access to all further transactions I would have done on my laptop.

“At one point I became suspicious and the man became a bit aggressive and passed me over to his supervisor who assured me the call was genuine.

“Finally, a black oblong box appeared at the end of which it said Talk Talk were sorry for any inconvenience and said they would reimburse my account with £400 at which point I said ‘Stop right there, if your next question is what is my bank account etc, forget it this is a scam.

“A lengthy argument ensued during which I told him if he knew I had paid by direct debit for years then he could pay the £400 into that account.”

Talk Talk have said that the person in question did the right thing taking the scammer to task and any customers should be vigilant and that they have a list of ‘nevers’, things they will never ask their customers to do or provide, including:

* Use your TalkTalk account number to prove a call is genuine

* Ask you to provide your full password.

* Ask for your bank details to process a refund.

* Ask you to send us money through services such as Moneygram or Western Union.

A spokesperson for Talk Talk said: “We’re sorry to hear that one of our customers was contacted by a scammer. Sadly, phone and email scams are a serious and growing problem across the UK. More information can be found on our website at help2.talktalk.co.uk/scam-phone-calls.”