RETIRED colonel David Benest is warning residents in Pewsey and Marlborough to not be tricked by a phone scam he fell for.

The 61-year-old of Manningford Abbots, near Pewsey, was led to believe by con artists they were calling from BT and urgently needed to analyse his computer which they said had a virus.

They abruptly told him to follow their instructions on his computer as it was in danger of crashing, which Mr Benest thought was genuine. They also asked him a series of questions.

Shortly afterwards the call conversation ended Mr Benest realised they had been attempting to get hold of his online banking details.

Fortunately, he does not use online banking and they were unsuccessful.

However, Mr Benest has since had an email from someone claiming to BT and they are now asking for them to give him his debit card details.

He contacted BT who confirmed it was not them and he has spoken to Action Fraud.

“Five people in Manningford have all fallen for it,” he said.

“Frankly this is terrible. They are a bunch of fraudsters. BT said they do not do this and never initiate anything. Action Fraud also said it has been going on for a long time but the message is not getting out there.

“My worry is that having been a signals officer I thought I was pretty good at knowing when I was being deceived so how many people is this happening to?”

Residents in Devizes, Marlborough and the surrounding areas have also reported hoax calls from people claiming to be from Wiltshire Council and doctor's surgeries in the area.

Wiltshire Police are asking people to be extra vigilant and report all incidents like this one to Action Fraud, or in emergency to their local police via the 101 number.