- Jul 4, 2015
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There's a scam out there that a family member has fallen for, resulting in his closing his checking account and all his credit cards with potential identity theft. The article link below talks about the Chrome browser gets locked up with a "Microsoft" number to call to unlock your computer. Of course then they phish personal data from you and also try to get you to install a Trojan.
This is why I talk ad nauseum about getting Linux, Mac or if the first is too technical (I don't think so) and the latter too expensive, then get a Chrome Book to do your surfing which is safe from malware since it's cloud-based. A refurb can be only about $200 or less and you can browse without walking on eggshells until your heart's content. Of course phishing is not a computer problem, but person problem being fooled into giving away info.
But in this case the relative did not do anything wrong to lock up his browser. This is why I am miffed at news web sites that tell you to remove the ad blocker which the article mentions is the way this is spread. Besides not taking a hint that their ads are too much "in one's face", these ad-crazy sites partly share in the poor security responsibility. With a Microsoft computer you basically only have to turn it on to have this happen. I feel sorry this happened to him, and probably not the first time I will see this happening to others. I can only warn.
Windows Chrome users: Tech-support scams try new trick to freeze your browser | ZDNet
This is why I talk ad nauseum about getting Linux, Mac or if the first is too technical (I don't think so) and the latter too expensive, then get a Chrome Book to do your surfing which is safe from malware since it's cloud-based. A refurb can be only about $200 or less and you can browse without walking on eggshells until your heart's content. Of course phishing is not a computer problem, but person problem being fooled into giving away info.
But in this case the relative did not do anything wrong to lock up his browser. This is why I am miffed at news web sites that tell you to remove the ad blocker which the article mentions is the way this is spread. Besides not taking a hint that their ads are too much "in one's face", these ad-crazy sites partly share in the poor security responsibility. With a Microsoft computer you basically only have to turn it on to have this happen. I feel sorry this happened to him, and probably not the first time I will see this happening to others. I can only warn.
Windows Chrome users: Tech-support scams try new trick to freeze your browser | ZDNet
