// AFTER A SCAM
Been scammed? We clean the computer and write the report your bank asks for
Two things happen after a scam that nobody warns you about: the bank wants to know the computer is safe before it puts things right, and you want to know it can never happen again. We do both, remotely, the same day where we can — and we write it all up in plain English so you can send it straight to the bank.
Rated 4.9 on GoogleFamily-run since 1995 · no fix, no fee// THE FIRST HOUR
Before anything else: the first hour
If money has gone, or someone has been on your computer, do these before you do anything with us. They matter more than the clean-up.
- Ring your bank on 159. It’s the UK’s safe line to your own bank and it works from any phone. Tell them exactly what happened; they can freeze cards, stop payments and start a claim.
- Stop all contact with the scammer. Don’t reply, don’t pay a “fee” to get money back (that is the second scam), and keep the messages as evidence.
- Change your important passwords from a different device — a phone or another computer — starting with email and banking. Not on the computer the scammer touched.
- Don’t use online banking on that computer until it has been checked. Most banks will say the same, and some will block it until they know the device is clean.
- Report it. Report Fraud (formerly Action Fraud) on 0300 123 2040 (in Scotland, Police Scotland on 101). Forward scam emails to report@phishing.gov.uk and scam texts to 7726, free.
Our step-by-step guide covers every type of scam in order: I’ve been scammed — what to do right now. Then call us, and we take it from here.
// THE CLEAN-UP
What we actually check and remove
Scammers rarely leave a computer the way they found it. In a remote session — we phone you first, you watch every move on your own screen — we go through the places they hide things:
- Remote-access programs they installed to get in, and any “support” tools they left behind so they could come back.
- Malware and browser add-ons — including the extensions that watch what you type on banking pages.
- Hidden changes: new user accounts, email forwarding rules that quietly copy your mail to them, weakened security settings, saved passwords they may have read.
- Your protection — Windows Security switched back on and up to date, updates installed, and a full scan run to confirm the machine is clean.
- Your accounts — new passwords where they matter, two-factor authentication switched on, and unknown sign-ins removed from your email.
Most clean-ups are a single remote session. We tell you what we found in plain English, and what it means — no jargon, no lectures; this happens to sensible people every week. If the machine genuinely can’t be worked on remotely — it won’t start, or the scammer locked it — that is a hands-on job, and we can collect it across Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole and Dorset.
// THE REPORT
The report for your bank, and why it matters
After a remote-access or malware scam, many banks want evidence that the computer has been checked before they restore online banking or settle a claim. So we write it down properly. Your report sets out:
- What happened, in your words and ours — the call, the pop-up, the email — with dates and times.
- What we found on the computer: the programs, changes and traces the scammer left.
- What we removed and changed, and confirmation that the machine was clean and protected when we finished.
- Who we are — a named, established local IT firm the bank can ring.
Why it helps: since 7 October 2024, UK banks have had to reimburse most victims of “authorised push payment” scams — where you were tricked into sending money by bank transfer — up to £85,000 per claim, usually within five business days, with the option of a £100 excess and a 13-month window to claim. The main exception is where the bank believes the customer ignored obvious warnings. A clear, dated account of what was done to you, and of the fact that your computer was compromised and then professionally cleaned, is the kind of evidence that supports a claim — and it answers the question every bank asks before switching online banking back on.
One honest line: the decision is the bank’s, not ours, and we can’t promise a refund. What we can promise is that your side of the story arrives written down, in order, by someone who looked.
// WHAT WE SEE
The scams we clean up after, most weeks
- “We’re calling from Microsoft / BT / your bank.” The caller talks you into installing a remote-access program, then “finds” problems, or moves money “to a safe account”. If you let anyone in, our gave-a-scammer-remote-access guide is the first hour, and this page is what happens next.
- The frozen “your computer is infected” pop-up with a phone number. Nothing is wrong with the computer; the danger is the phone call. See scam pop-ups.
- The “you’ve been hacked, pay in Bitcoin” email that names a real data breach and claims to have recorded you. It’s a mass-mailed bluff — but people pay, and people click. We’ve written it up: the “you’ve been hacked” email, explained.
- Fake bank, HMRC and delivery texts that lead to a convincing copy of a real website, where a password or card number is typed in.
- Marketplace and purchase scams — the deposit for the car or the holiday let that doesn’t exist. Less to clean up, more to document for the bank.
Whatever it was, the pattern is the same: stop the bleeding with the bank, make the computer safe, write it down, then make sure it can’t happen twice.
// NEVER TWICE
So it doesn’t happen again
The clean-up ends with the three changes that stop most repeat scams: two-factor authentication on email and banking, so a stolen password is useless on its own; a password manager so no password is reused; and one rule for the household — nobody who rings you out of the blue gets remote access, ever. We help you set all three up before we sign off.
For the habits, our free online safety course is six short lessons written for exactly this, and the Spot the Scam quiz is a gentle way to practise. If it would help to have someone to ask “is this safe?” before clicking, that is what our home support plan is for — £18.25 a month per computer, rolling monthly, cancel anytime, with unlimited remote help. And if it’s a parent you’re worried about, this page is for you.
FAMILY-RUN SINCE 1995 · ★ 4.9 ON GOOGLE · 200+ COMPUTERS UNDER OUR CARE · NO FIX, NO FEE · SAME-DAY REMOTE SUPPORT
// GOOD QUESTIONS
Frequently asked
How much does the clean-up and report cost?
We tell you the price before we start, and it doesn’t change — most clean-ups are a single remote session, and the report is part of the job, not an extra. Call 01202 775566 and we’ll quote it on the phone once we know what happened.
Will the bank definitely refund me if I have your report?
No one can promise that, and we won’t. The reimbursement rules are strong — most authorised push payment victims are refunded, up to £85,000, usually within five business days — but the decision is the bank’s, and it looks at whether obvious warnings were ignored. A clear written record of what happened and what was found on your computer is evidence that helps; it isn’t a verdict.
Does the computer need wiping and starting again?
Usually not. In most cases we can remove what the scammer installed, undo the changes and confirm the machine is clean. If they had deep access for a long time, or installed something we can’t fully trust, we’ll say so and recommend a fresh install — with your files kept safe first.
I’m not in Dorset. Can you still help?
Yes. The check, the clean-up and the report are all done on a secure remote session, so we help people anywhere in the UK. We phone you first, you watch everything on your own screen, and our access ends the moment we’re finished.
I paid the scammer in gift cards or cryptocurrency — is that covered?
Sadly the bank reimbursement rules cover bank transfers, not gift cards, cash or cryptocurrency, so that money is much harder to recover — report it to Report Fraud anyway, and tell your bank if a card was used to buy the vouchers. The computer still needs checking, and the report still helps if any other payment is in dispute.
Scammed this week? Start here.
Call 01202 775566 (Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm) and a patient local person will tell you the next step, then check the computer on a secure remote session while you watch. Anywhere in the UK.
01202 775566 · help@365techies.co.uk · MON–FRI 9AM–5PM