What can you do to protect yourself?
There are too many scammers on the internet, and they will do everything in their power to gain access into your computer or to convince you that you need to pay them.
There is no software or magical trick to prevent these scammers from trying to take advantage of you. So, to protect yourself, you need to know what to look for and how to identify them so that you are not a victim of their scams!!!
Scams like the one in the image above can be very frightening. Many of these types of scams pop up on you unexpectedly and without warning. They will lock your computer and leave you stuck, not knowing what to do and how to get rid of it. Here are some tips you need to know to help protect yourself.
- Internet – Many of these scams are embedded into the website that you are attempting to view. They will have annoying sounds or scary words indicating you need to call the number on the screen. These are fake. See below for how to get out of this screen.
- Email – Another method that scammers like to use is email. You may receive an email suggesting that they can see what you do on your computer, an email about a bill or charge to your account, or possibly even a message with a link, or they will leave a phone number that they require you to call. These are also fake. See below for tips.
- Phone – You may receive a phone call or text messages that again will attempt to scare you into believing that something is wrong with your computer, phone, or online account. See below for tips to help avoid these.
What you can do to protect yourself:
- Suppose your computer is locked with the a screen similar to the one above. Hold down the power button on your computer for 5 seconds and force a hard shutdown of your computer. (This is not the ideal way to turn off your computer and should not be used regularly to turn off your computer, but in this situation, it is necessary to get rid of the message and unlock your computer.) Turn your computer back on, and the threatening message will be gone.
- If you receive an email with a link to a website inside the message, even if it looks like it is from someone you know, only open it if you know with absolutely that it is a legitimate email. These links can bring you to websites with malicious software that may infect your computer.
- Microsoft and many other companies will NEVER call you to tell you you are infected or your computer has an issue. These calls are scammers; you need to hang up on them.
- NEVER let anyone remotely control your computer unless you know the person or are 100% certain they are a legitimate company.
- Install Malware & virus protection programs on your computer to help protect you.
BONUS TIP:
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