Windows 10: Phone scam and/or pop-up security warning purporting to be from Microsoft 8/22/2018

Several times yesterday and again today, August 22, 2018, I received phone calls at my home which showed my name and my phone number as the calling party on my caller ID. When I finally decided to answer today, I got a recording purporting to be from Microsoft saying my IP address had been compromised in several countries. The recording also said that my license for Windows would be terminated within 48 hours unless I pressed "1" to talk with someone at Microsoft. I did not. Last week I received 2 pop-up warnings on my laptop purporting to be from Microsoft security and directing me to call their # 855-328-4232. Unfortunately, I did and was fooled by a very empathetic and believable woman who I allowed to briefly access my computer. She showed me where several "foreign names" had used my IP address. When she told me that she would transfer me to technical engineers to fix my issues, I terminated the call. I called MacAfee and ran a scan which showed no malware or viruses were on my system. Does anyone know of similar phone calls or pop-up warnings? What should I be aware of or look for? As you can probably tell, I am not a computer guru so please use basic terms when responding. Thank you. jg

:)

 

Support Scam calls and pop-up "infected" warning

Both, phone calls as well as the fake warning pop-up are a scam. It's a coincidence that you experienced both.

Real Microsoft warnings never display any phone number to call.

Never ever call these phone numbers which you see in these kind of fake warning pop-ups.

They are always a scam.

Never ever allow those scammers access to your computer.

See:

PSA: Tech Support Scams Pop-Ups on the
Rise

Normally you can use the Task Manager to close your browser:
How to Use the New Task Manager in Windows 8 or 10

Or (for Edge) this method of
Scott_ki which was posted
here:

When this happened to me, I closed Microsoft Edge using the Task Manager.

Then in the search bar next to the Windows 10 logo on the bottom off the screen (I call it the "Cortana Search"), I typed in google.com and hit enter.

Microsoft Edge opened up with a new tab for Google. You can see the offending site still opens in a tab that doesn't have focus. Click the "X" to close Edge. Do not click on the offending site tab or it will get focus again.

When Edge closes nicely, I won't "Restore" the sessions and the offending site tab will be gone.

After a reboot the pop-up should be gone.

If not, please follow the steps provided here: Remove Tech Support Scam pop-up (Call For Support Scam)

Also see:

Tech Support Scams – Help & Resource Page

Avoid scams that use the Microsoft name fraudulently

Cheers,

J

 

Pop Up security warning

Good that you didn't click on anything and that you didn't call that number. That what you were seeing are fake alerts which try to trick you into calling some obscure companies who then will try to sell you their unneeded services/products.

Please read the following article which describes in detail various methods how to get out of such pop ups. The article also mentions methods how to prevent these kind of fake alerts.

• Beware of Phony Emails & Tech Support Scams

In case you keep on getting these pop ups, it is recommended to run some scans as described here:

• Remove Zeus Virus Detected PopUps

Suggestion to also take the time and to read:

• Best Practices for Safe Computing - Prevention of Malware Infection
• Avoiding technical support scams
  

 

Scam warnings

What browser are you using?

You might want to get a good advertisement blocker...

And suggestion to read the following article which describes in detail various methods how to get out of such pop ups. The article also mentions methods how to prevent these kind of fake alerts.

• Beware of Phony Emails & Tech Support Scams