AN Oxford man who fell victim to a computer scam was one of 22,000 victims across the UK who lost £21 million in a single year, new figures have revealed.

Glen Brandon, whose story featured on the front page of the Oxford Mail on Tuesday, lost £10,000 to the fraudsters who hacked into his computer and raided his savings.

Now Action Fraud, the national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre which took on Mr Brandon's case, has revealed the full scale of the problem across the UK.

The City of London Police division has released new figures today showing that in 2017/ 18 it received 22,609 reports of 'computer software service fraud' with a total of £21,365,360 being lost.

The force said the scams start with either a phone call, email or a message stating there is something wrong with the computer or internet connection that needs to be fixed. The fraudsters then demand payment to fix it or install software on the computer allowing access to personal and financial details.

Action Fraud is today launching a new campaign to warn people of the dangers.

City of London temporary Detective Chief Inspector Lara Xenoudakis said: "These fraudsters prey on vulnerable victims, doing everything they can to convince them there is something wrong with their computer.

"They use this as a way to gain immediate and in some cases multiple payments from the victim.

"During this campaign week, we are asking people to do everything they can to protect themselves from this type of fraud and stop fraudsters from thinking that this is an easy way to make money from unsuspecting victims."

The force issued the following advice to avoid being conned:

• Computer firms do not make unsolicited phone calls to help you fix your computer. Fraudsters make these phone calls to try to steal from you and damage your computer with malware. Treat all unsolicited phone calls with scepticism and don’t give out any personal information.

• Computer firms tend not to send out unsolicited communication about security updates, although they do send security software updates. If in doubt, don’t open the email.

• Computer firms do not request credit card information to validate copies of software. Nor do they ask for any personally identifying information, including credit card details.

Mr Brandon, who uses a wheelchair and lives in Headington with his mum, dad and brother, received a call from fraudsters claiming to work for his internet provider Virgin Media, who then hacked into his computer remotely.

Since the Oxford Mail ran Mr Brandon's story, a fundraising page set up by his mother Lorraine, aiming to replace £2,000 of his savings, has raised £600.

Donate online at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lorraine-brandon-3