A feisty 68-year-old woman told off a fraudster who called to get access to her non-existent computer in a money scam.

Marlene Gabarretta, of Birżebbuġa, received a phone call on Wednesday from a woman “with an Asian accent” who informed her that her computer was infected with viruses.

“I told her, ‘why don’t you just go away and leave me alone. I know it’s a scam’,” she said.

The person on the other end of the phone remained unfazed and continued trying to persuade Ms Gabarretta to grant her access to a computer, apparently to tamper with it and then scam her into paying to get rid of non-existent viruses.

“But I don’t even have a computer or laptop. I told her this and just hung up on her,” she said, laughing.

Ms Gabarretta became aware of the fake virus scam after The Times published a story on Tuesday that a number of people had been approached by scammers.

It was the fourth phone call she had received from the scammers who were usually men with a “Filipino or Asian accent”.

“They’re stupid. I told the first person who called that I didn’t have a computer but they still kept calling.”

Ms Gabarretta expressed surprise that the fraudsters had her name and telephone number and wondered just how they had got hold of such information.

She urged people to be aware of these scams and not to believe all they were told.

“Be careful if someone calls you telling you these things. People are just out to get your money,” Ms Gabarretta said.

If a computer had been infected with a virus, the owner would know.

There was no need for someone from the Philippines to call, she added.