Greater Sudbury Police Service's cyber crime unit will not advise residents using the Internet to click on a link to pay a fine to proceed or contact police through a link provided to unlock their computer.

Over the last week, GSPS said it has received numerous calls relating to unusual activity on the Internet where citizens have reported that while they are surfing the Internet they have received a ‘pop-up’ window indicating that they are being monitored by or have had their computer locked by the cyber crime unit or another policing agency.

Do not click on the link. Neither the cyber crime unit or any other police agency or unit is doing this action, and the ‘pop up’ is as a result of malicious software and the user’s computer has been infected, warn police.

Anyone experiencing this message or a similar message is advised to clean their computer or attend a computer repair business and have this performed professionally.

Police are also reminding the public of the following:

-Use caution when accessing or surfing unknown or unreliable websites and when downloading files from the Internet.

-Do not give out personal information on unconfirmed sites or individuals over the Internet.

-Do not give out bank details to unconfirmed sites or individuals on the Internet.

-Maintain up-to-date Internet and computer security, antivirus and firewall protection.

If you have provided your financial information, report the transaction to your financial institution and/or credit card company and contact Greater Sudbury Police Service to report the fraudulent transaction.