We’re seeing an increase in people getting popups on their computers. These popups do not have an X to close and are supposedly from Microsoft – they may even have a voice recording warning you not to shutdown your computer and to call a telephone number.
DO NOT CALL THE TELEPHONE NUMBER.
The person that answers isn’t from Microsoft and they will try to get you to allow them access to your computer. Once in, they can read or download any personal information you have or encrypt your hard drive or do any number of malicious things.
These popups can be killed but you have to use Task Manager to do it. If you encounter one of these and have trouble closing it, please don’t hesitate to give me a call at 901-745-3525. The popups are actually webpages that look like they’re official but they are not. We can show you how to get rid of them and what to do if they reappear.