It’s crazy today, with all the hackers, identity thieves and personal data bandits. So how do you protect yourself against all the criminals and chaos? One of the best ways is to arm yourself with knowledge, and you can start right here…
Take for instance the Microsoft Warning Screen Alert Scam. It’s awful because it takes an entity in which you have total trust and uses it against you. It basically tells you that it is an alert from Microsoft, indicating an error and that it detected pornographic spyware. It warns you that your financial information is being stolen and that your computer will be disabled if you close the page.
These crafty crooks go on to say that you need to call the toll-free number they provide to you so that they can walk you through a simple solution. They try to fool you into thinking that if you don’t comply; your computer and all your valuable information on that computer are at risk.
The most alarming part of this story is that if you give your computer access to them, everything from your passwords, PIN numbers and financial account information can be compromised; and they also often ask for – yes, you guessed it – money to resolve the problem.
The best course of action, whenever you receive any sort of out of the ordinary warning or message from ANYONE…even if it seems like it is coming from a credible source, is not to engage. And don’t worry, there IS a solution. Call someone you trust, like Computer “A” Services. Computer “A” Services can get rid of that scary screen; and there is a toll-free number on the official Microsoft website you can use to call and report the scam.