Q. I have been called by someone with a Manchester telephone number who says that he works for a company monitoring the Internet, and telling me that they have detected trojans on my computer and that he can fix the problem over the telephone if I start up my PC and work with him. Is this genuine?

A. NO! And neither are the calls that claim to come from companies like Microsoft. How could anyone calling you possibly know what is happening on your computer? Either they have installed trojans on your system - exactly what they claim they will fix - or they are phishing. Phishing is when criminals try to discover your personal information, such as the e-mails that I'm sure you receive apparently from banks. The gambit that they have discovered problems on your PC is clever because everyone thinks that their computers should be running better, or faster. Ignore the calls, and any similar e-mails that you may receive. If they persist, report them at www.actionfraud.police.uk.