Calling a Support Number in a Popup

Tech Support Scam sites display fake error messages that pretend to be from Microsoft to trick you into thinking that your computer has crashed or that a virus has been detected.

As you can imagine, the alerts are not real and their purpose is to scare you into allowing a scammer remote access to your computer.

If you call these scammers, they will offer fake solutions for your “problems” and ask for payment in the form of a one-time fee or subscription to a purported support service.

After remote access is gained, the scammer relies on confidence tricks typically involving utilities built into Windows and other software in order to gain the victim’s trust to pay for the supposed “support” services, then the scammer actually steals the victim’s credit card account information.

Don’t call the number in the pop-ups. Microsoft’s error and warning messages never include a phone number.

Microsoft will never send unsolicited email messages or make unsolicited phone calls to request personal or financial information or fix your computer. Treat all unsolicited phone calls or pop-ups with skepticism. Do not provide any personal information.

Many of these scammers will claim that errors in the Event Viewer are a sign of issues that only they can correct. This is a lie. Below is a link that explains what the Event viewer is and what it does. Even perfectly functioning programs will have errors reported in the event viewer.

To fix the issue, you will need to ensure that the fake scam message is closed. If you are unable to exit the message, press CTRL + ALT + DEL on your keyboard, then open the Task Manager. End all running tasks. Once the message is closed out, follow the steps below:

Click the button below to download the Adware Removal Tool:

1. Click Scan
2. After the scan, click OK on the message
3. In the results window, click on the Clean button to remove the found items
4. After the tool is done cleaning, click on on the links to reset the browsers for each on installed on your computer, including Edge, Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox
5. Reboot the computer and run a PC Matic scan.

See the links below for additional information on tech support scams:

• Protect Yourself From Tech Support Scams – Microsoft Support
• I Got A Call From Microsoft And Allowed Them Access To My Computer – Ask Leo
• What Is The Windows Event Viewer And How Can I Use It – How-To Geek