The Advocate was last week contacted by two Forbes residents who had received suspicious phone calls requesting they provide their bank account details or computer passwords to resolve problems.

One Forbes woman received a phone call last Thursday night from a man reporting to be from a multinational technology firm. The caller asked to be given access to her computer to eliminate a ‘virus’ which the company had apparently detected.

The woman said she became suspicious as the caller did not know her name or what type of computer she owned, but told her the machine was being attacked by a virus, and could only be repaired by allowing his company remote access.

Earlier in the week a Forbes woman was targeted by a female caller who asked for her bank account number, so she could be refunded bank fees incorrectly charged.

The caller told the woman she was entitled to $7200 in compensation, and she was given a phone number and validation code to receive the payments.

The woman said she didn’t call the number and soon after received another call from the same person ‘Veronica’, asking why she hadn’t validated her refund yet.

The Forbes woman said she searched the internet for the number, 02-8091-3550, and discovered several people had posted warnings online not to call.