Quote:
Originally Posted by mtdjed
Was searching for an Appliance user instruction online when computer locked up and announced that it was infected with a virus and warned that I should call such and such a number. Warning stated that I should not turn off the computer and all indications were that I lost all access to control of the computer screen ie could not access settings power off.
I used the computer external shutoff which worked. Restarted and no further issues that I know of. Current security systems show no infections.
What is happening? Is this simply a way to get you to call and give someone control or extort money?
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You did exactly the right thing. Power off the computer.
It's a scam, designed to scare you into calling the number.
There are a number of different ways after that they try to either access your computer or get you to send them gift cards.
If you get an active browser protector, like malwarbytes, it will block sites that attempt that.
I've been an IT professional for 35+ years, I do incident response for Ransomware attacks and for a normal desktop windows user, Malwarebytes does a pretty good job. There are other tools as well.
The particular scam you ran across used to be a lot more common, and I have never seen any lasting issues from it, however, you need to do a good scan with some tool to make sure. Malwarebytes has a free version that will scan your computer. If you are using an older Mcafee, Symantec, Trend, Sophos or other anti-virus, it's time to update it to something with active browser protection.