An old scam is resurfacing locally, and police are warning residents to be vigilant with their personal information.
Victims of the scam tell police they have been called by someone claiming to be a Microsoft employee and advising of a computer problem.
After asking their mark to perform a simple test on their computer, the "employee" will try to convince the person they need special software to fix the problem.
The scammer then asks for a credit card number to be used to make a deposit to a PayPal account so that the software can be mailed out.
"It's unlikely that Microsoft is going to contact you," Saanich police Sgt. Dean Jantzen said. "It's not typical for them to shop around for your computer problems."
Though the "cost" of the software isn't substantial, police are reminding residents to be cautious when conducting business transactions over the phone.
Police are not aware of any Saanich residents who have lost money from the scam.
kslavin@saanichnews.com