What is the Fake Virus Scam?

Imagine this alert on your screen. Scary thought, right? This message is intended to scare users into calling the toll-free number. The problem is, these alerts are fake. There is nothing wrong with the computer. The goal of the scam is to trick users into paying unnecessary and costly support services. These kinds of fake technical support scams associate themselves with well known brands such as Microsoft.

Once the fake virus infects the computer, the browser appears to be locked. A robotic voice blares alarming messages such as pornography, credit card theft, and personal information loss, and the authorities will be contacted. Just imagine you're in a work environment and that comes over your computer. You might get scared, and may even panic - giving the phony tech support access to your system. For this reason, this type of virus attack is also called scareware. The fake virus scam succeeds when the user allows remote control of the infected computer.

How can I protect myself from fake virus attacks and scareware infections? Antivirus Protection is the best way to avoid fake viruses.

Although the Fake Virus reputes to be from Microsoft, it can hit any platform including Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, and OSX. The fake virus enters the computer through a compromised web page and freezes the browser and exhorts to call a toll free number. The toll free number operator then attempts to gain control of the computer in order to remove the virus and charge fees ranging from $200 - $600.

Two quick lessons: 1) Only let people you trust to have control of your computer. 2) Don't call the fake virus support phone numbers.

On Windows and Mac computers, one must kill the browser which has become frozen. On Windows computers, hit CTRL+ALT+DEL, choose task manager, find the frozen browser, and hit kill task. On Mac computers, hit CMD+Option+ESC, find the frozen browser, and hit Force Quit. Reinitiate the browser. If there is an option to restore tabs, respond negatively.

Another way to restore options is to reboot the virus infected computer. On Android and OSX devices, reboot is the only option.

As frustrating as this fake virus scam can be, rest assured there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Our virus protection software can help keep you safe.

The Fake Virus exploits a Javascript bug in browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Edge. The compromised web site delivers a Javascript alert which is a dialog box that is placed over the screen. The alert is then placed in an infinite loop. No matter what the user clicks, the dialog box returns. When placed in this state, the tab and browser are unresponsive and appears to be locked. The screen and the dialog box both reinforce the message that there is a virus and they must call the toll free number.

The best way to prevent fake tech support scams is to use a pop-up ad blocker to avoid pop-ups on your computer. Keep your device updated with the latest antivirus and anti-spyware software. Don't open an email, text message or click on a link unless you are sure it is safe to do so. Our whitelisting security software blocks malicious scripts the hackers rely on to take control of your computer or device.

URLs for Fake Virus Scams pop up almost as fast as they can be counted. Each one may only be used for a few hours at a time, and then Cyber Criminals will create another unique site to lock down their victims. We are updating this table with all of the malicious URLs that PC Matic protects our customers from during normal web browsing.

These URLs may no longer be active after a short period of time, but you should exercise caution clicking them. In most cases these are live scam links that will attempt to lock down your browser. If you’re not familiar with these scams or how to kill your browser and escape them, do not visit these links.