Potential victims of last month's TalkTalk cyberattack are being warned about a specific telephone scam that may be on the rise.
A number of TalkTalk customers have complained in recent weeks of calls from people claiming to be from the company's security team - or other large tech firms - trying to get money from their bank accounts.
In some cases, £10,000 has been successfully transferred by customers over fake websites.
This type of scam is not new, but there is concern that TalkTalk customers are being targeted with stolen details being used to identify them as customers.
However, TalkTalk says there is no evidence the calls are a result of the hack in October.
One Sky News viewer who is a TalkTalk customer recorded the scam before confronting the alleged criminal.
In the call, a man claims to be from the Microsoft Windows technical maintenance department and tells her that her computer has malicious software and that she needs to download a programme to clean it up.
Cathy Hornby, from Lancaster, tells him: "Do you know what my computer is saying to me? It's saying: 'This is an Apple device, and therefore the person you're speaking to is clearly talking a load of nonsense, and they're trying to con you.'
"What I'd like to say to you is that you desist from ringing people who have got absolutely no need for your calls and don't need malicious software putting on their computers."
Ms Hornby said she has heard a similar recording of a scam call from a man claiming to be from TalkTalk, who contacted another customer.
The company stressed that none of the 156,959 customer files involved contained enough banking information for criminals to steal money directly, and that this scam is banking fraud as it involves customers transferring funds directly between accounts.
Action Fraud, which receives reports from victims, told Sky News: "TalkTalk customers have complained to Action Fraud about receiving scam calls from fraudsters pretending to be TalkTalk, claiming that they want to warn users about malware infections on their computer."
Customers are being advised to hang up if they are in doubt about a call.
Ms Hornby believes more should be done to warn people about this scam.
She added: "I keep myself up to date with the potential new scams – but that said, I've got friends and family who perhaps are less clued up and could potentially be quite easily convinced by somebody with a convincing script. It angers me that they are vulnerable to these kinds of calls."
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Courtesy ::: Sky
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