If you guessed tech support scams are becoming one of the top consumer threats this year then you’d be right. Scammers are constantly developing new ways to get your money. Gone are the days of impersonating Microsoft or malicious pop-ups. Keep reading to learn how the latest tech support scams are spreading.
More and more scams are relying on malvertising, the use of malicious online ads, to redirect users to browser lockers pages or browlocks. This means the site prevents you from performing any action on the page such as closing the open tab or window and blocking access to the desktop effectively stopping you from navigating away from that site. Like this:
This can be a scary and jarring experience, but don’t worry – follow these steps and you’ll be fine:
- Close out of your browser using the task manager (get to it using the shortcut ctrl + alt + del on your keyboard)
- Run a FixMeStick Quick Scan – Quick Scan is a great way to confirm your system is clean. It checks the places viruses are most likely to hide.
- That night (or whenever you get a chance) run a full FixMeStick scan to deep clean your system.
Have peace-of-mind knowing your computer, files, and important information is safe and secure.