RESIDENTS in York have been targeted by computer fraudsters.

City of York Council has put out a warning after computer owners received unsolicited calls offering to fix computer viruses.

A caller claims to be acting on information from Microsoft and claimed to have highlighted a serious problem with their computer, which needs to be resolved immediately.

The householder is asked to download a programme to get rid of the “virus” costing £79.95 to be paid by credit card.

A council trading standards spokesman said: “If you receive one of these unsolicited calls, just hang up and don’t download anything you are asked to.”