A woman from Cleckheaton was scammed out of £14,000 when a conman rang her pretending to be from Microsoft.

The caller told Carole Pearson she had hardcore pornography on her computer, and that she needed to transfer a refundable sum of money to them before they could get rid of it for her.

Carole spoke out to warn others not to fall victim to the scam.

She said: “Nothing like this has ever happened before to me – it has had a massive impact on us – it is heart-breaking.

“This was my pension money and was supposed to be for our future but I felt really bad when it happened. It was supposed to be our nest-egg.

“There is now no chance of getting this money back.”

Carole was told to transfer the money in separate instalments through the Post Office.

Carole Pearson on being scammed by con artists who said she had porn on her computer

She added: “If someone calls you up about an issue like this then say you will call them back. Go on their website and use the number listed there.”

A video of Carole was released by West Yorkshire Police to raise awareness of cyber-crime.

Police and crime commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson said: “Mrs Pearson has shown great courage in sharing her story and I hope that it will encourage people to think about their own online safety and reduce the chances of this happening to anyone else.

“Victims of cyber crime can be reluctant to report it for a number of reasons but I would always urge anyone who thinks they may have been a victim to contact police.”