Does your web browser display a page stating that your PC is blocked by a virus or questionable activity, prompting you to contact a paid support service? It’s a scam! Here’s how to get rid of it.
The practice is not new, but it continues to be widely used by online scammers with the main objective of extracting easy money from you. The principle is simple, but formidable.
As you surf the web, a page appears in your browser. It presents all the graphical codes intended to scare you with rather large written messages and scary warning signs: “Your PC has been blocked due to the presence of a virus or suspicious activity”. The name of the web browser used, your IP address and the name of your Internet service provider may be mentioned. To drive the point home, pop-up windows may appear, indicating an alert from Windows Defender which specifies the possibility of a critical or major risk to the security of your PC or your personal data. Unable to close this window or the alerts that successively appear on the screen repeatedly.
To get out of it, the Web page indicates the procedure to follow with, in particular, a telephone number to call, flanked by the Windows logo, in order to have a technician assist you. All of this is, of course, completely bogus. Your PC is neither infected by a virus nor blocked. The phone number allows you to get in touch with a fake technician who will not only try to sell you protection software at exorbitant prices or worse, to take over your PC to install real malware this time or spyware (spyware) without your knowledge. This is a very well put together scam that has been around for several years. But which still claims many victims, as can be seen regularly on our support forum (thanks to Bazfile for his invaluable help!).
This type of web page is generally encountered when surfing on unsavory sites (illegal downloading or streaming sites, sites for obtaining license numbers for cracked software or games, sites with pornographic content, etc.). The fraudulent webpage actually relies on scripts that slipped through the cracks of your web browser and your PC’s anti-virus protection tool. It seems impossible to close and the scripts are linked to continue to display alert windows. Sometimes the mouse pointer seems to move by itself (this is also a script) to give the illusion that you no longer have control of the computer. As for the indication of the name of your Web browser, your IP address and the name of your Internet access provider, it is hardly intriguing since this data is very easily accessible (if you do not use a service VPN) since every site you visit has access to it. It is also possible that, despite restarting the PC, the web browser is struggling to display the alert page. The goal of the maneuver is to make an attack as credible as possible in order to make you call fake technical support to end up buying software at full price or subscribing to a security suite.
Despite all the alerts indicating that your PC is blocked or that a virus has contaminated it, your computer is in no danger. At most, your browser has picked up a script that you need to get rid of. Obviously, under no circumstances should you call the number given on the web page displayed by the fake help desk.
► If your web browser seems stuck on the web page, it is not. Try to open a new tab by pressing the keyboard shortcut CTRL + T. You can then close the tab of your browser in which the recalcitrant page is displayed by clicking on his cross or right-click it to choose Close Then Quit.
► If that doesn’t work, press the keyboard shortcut Alt + F4. This will force the browser to close. You may need to press this shortcut several times to close the browser.
► You can also close the browser by right-clicking its icon in the Windows taskbar and choosing Close the window.
► Still not working? Go to Task Manager, for example by right-clicking on the menu To start up and choosing Task Manager (read our article to know all the methods to access Windows Task Manager).
► In the window that is displayed, under the tab Processclick the name of your browser, then click end of task Or Complete taskat the top right of the window.
► When you restart your browser, do not click on the button Restore at the risk of displaying the fraudulent web page again.
► If the fraudulent web page continues to display when opening the browser, a malicious script has installed itself. To get rid of it, use a free utility such as AdwCleaner or Microsoft Safety Scanner (read our practical sheet) or Mawarebytes.
► Subsequently, to prevent the phenomenon from happening again, the trick is to use one or more ad blockers in your browser such as AdBlock Plus or uBlock Origin (as we indicate in our practical sheet). These modules prevent the display of unwanted content and will be able to filter out fraudulent pages generally from advertising agencies that are not very attentive.
► Finally, if you still can’t get rid of this fraudulent page, don’t hesitate to ask for some help on our forum.
► Also remember to consult the special page of the Cybermalveillance government platform which gives valuable advice to thwart fake technical support scams.