![]() Scareware websites relating to Amazon have become commonplace, what with the wide adoption of Amazon devices, such as Alexa smart speakers and Fire TV’s. ![]() If, when you re-open your browser, it prompts you to choose whether you want to open webpages that were previously open, select ‘No thanks’. To be safe, run an antivirus scan with TotalAV or equivalent before opening your web browser back up. If you ever see a message like the above, where it reports of viruses or infections, and it seems like you can’t remove the message try pressing the Ctrl key + W, this will close down any window on Microsoft Windows. These pages have been found to use other tricks to scare users, such as opening in full screen making it seem like the prompt cannot be closed until the phone number is called, or a fake mouse moving around within the browser window making it seem like the computer is being controlled by a hacker. Microsoft does not warn customers of viruses like this. If you have seen a webpage like above, where it looks like an official Microsoft webpage in the background and a dialogue box appears over the top telling you in one way or another you have viruses, then this is a tech support scam. In 2020 we’ve seen the following scareware tactics used: Microsoft Tech Support Scams However, if you encounter one and feel safe in copying the website address and sending to us on it would be very much appreciated, and will potentially prevent others from falling prey to the scam. We do our best at TotalAV to block websites like these on TotalAV WebShield, however, the scammers behind them are constantly re-uploading them on different website addresses - its a game of cat and mouse trying to prevent users from ever seeing them. How to Report Scams using TotalAV WebShield ![]() The developers of scareware websites are well aware many users don’t know this, and if they make their scareware messages look legitimate its likely viewers will take the bait - after all, no one wants viruses so if they are told they have them, and see a button which promises a solution, they’re likely to seek the remedy there and then. In most cases, websites cannot interact with your device in a way which can allow them to determine if your device is or isn’t infected with viruses. In some cases these messages inform users their device is locked, and they need to phone a number in order to get tech support - in nearly all cases, this is a tech support scam, and the person on the other end of the phone will connect remotely to the computer, carry out useless tasks which look very technical, and demand huge sums of money to do so - all the while promising to fix a problem that doesn’t even exist! So how is it possible to decipher real problems from fake scareware ones?įirstly, when browsing the internet a degree of caution is required when clicking links and seeing pop-ups. Scareware takes many forms - sometimes it can be an entire webpage which looks like an official Microsoft, Apple or Google website informing users they have viruses, other times it can be pop-ups, sometimes browser notifications, which inform users they have infections on their device. Scareware is a malware tactic that uses social engineering and manipulates victims into thinking they need to download or buy malicious and un-necessary software.
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