There I was this morning just reading an article on a jury trial. I was on a legitimate news website and I had not clicked on anything. Suddenly, the window you see above popped up on my screen. Yes, I was in Google Chrome so the heading fits. However, this is a prime example of Social Engineering. The window attempts to scare me into calling “Microsoft Support.” Of course, the phone number is not actually connecting me to Microsoft. It will take me to an outside company whose “techs” really just want to rip me off. They try to show that they had been “helpful” by blocking attempts by hackers trying to gain access to my bank accounts. Since they are being so helpful, why wouldn’t I want to call them?

Here are a couple of questions I think you might be asking: why did John get this pop-up? how did he get rid of it? These are both excellent questions and I’m so glad you asked!

Since I was on a legitimate news page and since I didn’t click on anything, there would be two possible reasons for me to get this scam window. 1) I had a “bad” extension installed in Google Chrome that caused the re-direct to this fake page. 2) The webpage I was visiting was compromised.

I do have twenty-one extensions installed in Google Chrome. That’s a lot. However, they are all 100% legitimate and safe and they are all extensions I’m familiar with and know that I installed. Thus, I didn’t get the pop-up because of an extension.

That leaves the option that the webpage I was on had been compromised. Again, although it was a legitimate news site, it was a smaller news site and not one of the major players like MSN, Foxnews, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, etc. Here’s something you need to know: all these sites are constantly under attack by hackers trying to take over the site or use it for nefarious activities. Smaller sites can sometimes be hit and it can take hours or even a day or more for them to realize what’s happened and then fix it.

Back to the question of how I got rid of it. I used the task manager to close Google Chrome. When I re-opened Chrome, it was gone. Not sure how to use the task manager (or in the case of Mac, the Force Quit) to close unwanted programs? Please read a previous post I wrote, “Turn Off Alternative” and that will explain what I did.