Help Center · Scams
The fake virus warning and the “Microsoft” call
The screaming pop-up with a phone number, and the caller who wants to “clean” your computer, are the same scam. Real security warnings never include a phone number.
The rule
No real computer warning has ever asked you to call a phone number. Microsoft, Apple, and Google do not know or care whose screen shows what, and they never call you either.
If the pop-up is on your screen now
- Do not call. Do not click. Close the browser — force it if needed (hold the power button on the computer if truly stuck; the pop-up cannot survive a restart).
- Do not re-open the tab when the browser offers to restore it.
If you already called and they connected to your computer
- Turn the computer off now. Their connection dies with it.
- From a different device, change the passwords for your email and bank, in that order.
- If you paid, call your bank or card company and dispute it while the transaction is fresh.
- Before trusting that computer again, have the remote-control program they installed removed. This is exactly the situation our free help exists for — write to us.
Not sure how exposed you are? Our free check shows which leaks your email is in — about one second, and you keep the answer. And if you are in the middle of something right now, a person answers at contact@protectindiana.org.