This is one of the oldest scams out there. I keep thinking that surely everyone has heard about this one and is aware of how to resolve it, but I keep hearing from people that they fell victim to this scam. Please pass this on to anyone that might not be tech aware and needs to know about this.
Here is a video of what I am talking about:
This gives an example of what it can look like. There are many versions, some of them even turn your volume to full blast also. You can also get this on a MAC and a Chromebook. I did a Google search for Microsoft popup scams, and this is just a tiny bit of all the search results. As you can see this can take on many forms, but they all do the same thing.
As the video says, the safe way to get rid of this is to completely turn off your computer and when you turn it back on do not restore your browser session. If you have a desktop computer just pull the power cord out of the wall and then plug it back in and start up your computer. If you are on a laptop, it is a little harder. The power button on laptops usually is set to put the laptop to sleep when you tap the button. The way to get it to turn off completely is to press and hold the power button for 30 seconds. Once you turn it back on you should get the entire startup where it shows Dell, HP, Apple, or whatever company logo and then your operating system will load. If it quickly goes to your sign in without the full startup, it did not fully shutdown.
Please make sure that you and everyone you know are aware that NO COMPANY IS MONITORING YOUR COMPUTER. Any pop-up like this is fake. Also, no government agency monitors your computer. So, if it says FBI, CIA or Justice Center it is also fake.
As always, if you are unsure about something on your computer you can call me or forward an email to verify if it is real or not.
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