KEITH Dearing was convinced he’d never fall victim to internet scammers. Yet the con by which he was duped out of almost £3,000 was breathtaking.

The Talk Talk customer received a call from someone claiming to work at the telecoms firm, saying he had a fault on his internet router. He was then passed to a ‘Talk Talk supervisor’, who said £200 had been transferred into his account to compensate.

She told him to log onto his account to check - and he was astonished to find not £200 but £4,200 there. He told the ‘supervisor’ they’d obviously put too much in his account by mistake, and she asked him to return the ‘overpayment’ at the Post Office in Acomb using an international payment transfer.

It was, of course, all a scam. But by the time Mr Dearing realised that, it was too late.

It is easy to see with hindsight. But if you get one of these calls, from people who seem to be calling in an official capacity and appear to know all your details, they can be horribly plausible.

Mr Dearing’s case illustrates again how very careful we all need to be in an age when it is so easy to give away confidential details - and money - online.

If you get a call or an email purporting to be from your bank or internet provider and asking for money, it should ring alarm bells. Always double check - either by calling the company back on a different number or, if the call claims to come from your bank, by going along to your local branch.

It is much better to be safe than sorry. No genuine caller would try to pressure you into paying quickly without first making checks.