Microsoft Engineer phone call scam

Recently a proportion of my clients have been contacted by a supposed Microsoft Engineer with regards to potential issues on their machines.  These issues range from unstable Operating Systems, Windows system faults and errors, viruses and spyware issues and registry problems.  The person will inevitably ask them if they can gain access to their machine virtually to highlight just where the problems are.  

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS IS A SCAM!!!

Once 'hooked up' to your machine, these operators will set out to baffle the user into thinking that they have serious errors on their system before suggesting that these errors could be fixed for a hefty fee.  You should NEVER let ANYONE remotely access your computer unless it is a certified engineer who you have given specific clearance to do so.  

After gaining access virtually the operator will then have complete access to navigate around your system as he or she pleases, possibly hiding potential harmful programs within the system to jeopardise the users identity and security.  

If you are contacted in this way, then simply ignore the caller and hang up.