I recently helped a client who thought that their computer had been compromised. The entire screen was taken over by a series of layered windows all with messages from “Microsoft” explaining that the computer had been accidentally locked. The scammers wanted the owner to call them so that they could unlock the device and restore its functionality. There was a prominent phone number in the bottom right section of the screen saying “Microsoft Support” and the number was listed.
The client played it safe and did not call the number. This is very important and showed some real awareness by the client. Many people panic at this step and think that the only way to fix the problem is to contact Microsoft.
I congratulated the client on their awareness and pointed out that Microsoft is not an easy company to get a hold of on the phone. If you call Microsoft and a human answers, you can be fairly certain that you are not talking to Microsoft.
Behind the Curtain
I was able to sort out what was going on by opening Task Manager on the windows computer. From there I shut down Google Chrome, and all of the warnings and windows immediately were gone, and the computer was back to full functionality.
The way that these scams usually work is through pop-up windows that developers can use to advertise with different browsers. It follows that a good defense against many online scams is to use a trusted adblocker resource. Check out this article about adblockers.
In Conclusion
If Microsoft calls, don’t answer. If your computer asks you to call Microsoft, don’t call. What you can do is close the browser that you are in, or simply power off your machine.