How a Fake Security Alert Almost Compromised My Computer

This author is sharing a new computer scam that nearly got me scammed yesterday. I hope revealing my personal story may help others avoid potentially devastating losses.

To provide some background, below is a brief account of my computing experience. I'm not very tech-savvy because I wasn't raised in the computer era. I am probably an average individual with this skill set, and I am average in end-user programs. Many of the more prevalent frauds are ones that I am acquainted with.

It was different yesterday. It was terrifying, and I might have had big consequences. I choose to spread the word about this specific computer scam since I haven't seen any warnings about it.

Sharing this is humiliating since I know people who are more tech-savvy wouldn't have been duped.

How the latest computer fraud happened

I was using a local, regional source as I browsed the internet for information for an article I would write. A screen that spanned my full screen appeared as soon as I clicked on a link to a website. An alert sounded with a loud, volumed message informed me that a hazardous trojan had infected my computer and that I needed to keep it running to prevent the infection from spreading to all files and infecting everything on it. On a loop cycle, this warning and alert are repeated.

"You must call Microsoft tech support immediately," along with a phone number to call, was displayed in the notification area that appear in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. It looked authentic and included the Microsoft logo.

I was unable to silence the alert or the message that kept repeating. My PC appeared to be stopped and hijacked.

I could feel the adrenaline pumping and worry beginning to set in. The majority of individuals do their everyday activities, including financial transactions, online, and I kept seeing images of security breaches.

I dialed the alleged Microsoft tech support number when I was in a panic. In order to 'assist' this security breach, this 'support tech' showed me how to let him remotely control my computer. He informed me that the attack occurred at the level of the internet router and inquired as to the number of devices in the home that were linked to that router.

When I heard my computer alarm and message continually going off, someone in the house rushed to my aid. He put me on the phone to a friend who worked in the tech industry and was very savvy.

I was instructed by this individual to shut down my computer right away. Even though I had a lot of running apps open, I had to perform a hard shutdown, which required physically pressing the off button. I simultaneously hung up on the fake support tech after doing this.

Fortunately, this only took place over a brief period of time—roughly five minutes.

I promptly brought my PC to the nearby Best Buy and hired the Geek Squad to do a comprehensive security scan on it.

Receiving my computer's scan back from the Geek Squad

I picked up my freshly scanned PC and inquired about their results. Fortunately, these cyber experts claimed that nothing had been compromised and that the fraudster had not installed anything on my computer.

When this occurred, I asked the technician if they were seeing any similar situations. He said that this new fraud is affecting at least one individual every day that they are serving locally.

My buddy who worked in the IT sector and helped me with this specific scam said their ultimate objective was to present you with phony screens that were authentic looking. They would then show where your computer's data protection was either nonexistent or insufficient. Then they demand that you pay to have all of the devices in your house "protected."

More harm might be done, depending on how far they were able to access your information.

It might be a good idea to share this with friends, family, and children who are online, to be prepared if this happens to them. Immediately, shut down your computer.

This is a book I'm going to be reading: Cybersecurity For Dummies.

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