A GWENT chip shop owner pranked a cold caller who she believed was trying to hack into her computer by stringing him along for a 15 minute call.

The video of Tracey Scammell, who runs Scam's Chip and Fin in Abersychan, hilariously handling the cold caller – making him hang up in anger – has now been watched by more than half a million people.

The caller was trying to instruct her to install software on a PC but Ms Scammell does not even have a computer at the shop – and she made her feelings to the nuisance caller clear.

At one point, the 46-year-old, who was being filmed by Ceri Morris, pretends not to know how to get 'on the line' or 'use the Google'.

She also yells for her non-existent husband Ronald to come and help with the situation - leaving the cold caller confused and frustrated.

Among other tricks was her pretending to confuse the Windows key for a door key. 

South Wales Argus:

Ms Scammell said: "It's an absolute nightmare trying to run a business when you're getting five or six of these calls a day.

"Most of the time I'm expecting orders from customers so I'll just hang up but when I'm in a good mood and less busy I will have a bit of banter with them.

"He was telling me I needed to install something on my computer but we don't even have one in the shop. He was asking for password and I'm pretty sure he was trying to give me a virus.

"He didn't introduce what company he was from but said his name was Mark Johnson. He didn't sound like a Mark Johnson.

"I was just acting off the cuff and thought I would keep him going until he got fed up. I didn't think it would take 15 minutes though.

"Ceri wasn't even filming for the first five minutes because she didn't think he would persist for so long. It just goes to show they'll do anything to make a sale or get what they want."

Eventually the fed-up caller slammed the phone down, muttering: "You're wasting my time."

Ms Scammell, who has owned the chippy for six years, said: "Because we're a business number we get bombarded with these calls so it was good to get our own back on one of them.

"Usually it's someone trying to sign me up for gas or electric but this seemed a bit more sinister. I was in a good mood so I thought I'd have a bit of fun.

"I have a brother and father-in-law called Ron so I think that's why that name came into my head. My civil partner is called Julie though, so I certainly don't have a husband called Ron.

"I never dreamt it would go this widespread. Everyone seems to be on our side because they get really wound-up by these nuisance calls.

"Hopefully this sends a message to cold callers not to mess with us. It gets in the way of our work and it's such a nuisance."

Ceri Morris, 24, who filmed the video, said: "She's done this before. You wouldn't want to mess with her because she's always like this.

"I thought I would get a clip about a minute long and 10 minutes later I was still recording. They really don't know when to stop."

Photos and video from Mercury Press and Media.