Registered: 7m ago  fishing?https:///t5/Webroot-SecureAnywhere-Complete/fishing/td-p/238346 30 seconds ago

i just had a note pop up on my asus laptop warning that "windows" had detected a "serious security problem," sounding a very loud bell on my laptop and asking me to cal 888 237 0878 . i called and was told it was a "microsoft certified" center. i asked if they were employed or contracted by microsoft and they said no. so i hung up, restarted the laptop and the warning and bell went away. i ran a webroot scan and it detected no problems. if this was a phishing approach, as i suspect, why did webroot not block it? i would expect webroot to stop that, no? anyone else experience this? this makes me wonder about just how "secure" i am

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It's a trap... For the reason why i hope some of the other experts can explain. Guess it kind of depends how the stuff popped up ( i mean the build of the rubbish codce ). 

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Hi juanquestion

 

Welcome to the Community Forums.

 

THIS IS A SCAM!!  Neither Microsoft nor any reputable company sends emails, pop ups, or phone calls of any kind advising that you may have a problem.

 

If you clicked anything links, allowed them to remote into your computer, or went to any web sites please submit a Support Ticket ASAP.  (Now would be a good idea....)

 

If you would like more information, read on (After submitting that Support Ticket.....)

 

NEWS ARTICLE: Tech Support Scams are on the rise.

 

Microsoft never issues this type of warning or email or anything of a sort!  Please see the following link for Microsofts official word on this:

 

http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/avoid-phone-scams.aspx

 

"Neither Microsoft nor our partners make unsolicited phone calls (also known as cold calls) to charge you for computer security or software fixes.

 

Cybercriminals often use publicly available phone directories so they might know your name and other personal information when they call you. They might even guess what operating system you're using.

 

Once they've gained your trust, they might ask for your user name and password or ask you to go to a website to install software that will let them access your computer to fix it. Once you do this, your computer and your personal information is vulnerable."

 

Also see Avoid scams that use the Microsoft name fraudulently

http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/msname.aspx

 

For more information here iwhat the United States Federal Trade Commission has to say on the subject::

http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0346-tech-support-scams

 

"In a recent twist, scam artists are using the phone to try to break into your computer. They call, claiming to be computer techs associated with well-known companies like Microsoft. They say that they’ve detected viruses or other malware on your computer to trick you into giving them remote access or paying for software you don’t need.

 

These scammers take advantage of your reasonable concerns about viruses and other threats. They know that computer users have heard time and again that it’s important to install security software. But the purpose behind their elaborate scheme isn’t to protect your computer; it’s to make money."

 

This scam is common and has been around for quite a while.  Here is a good Webroot Blog article from April 2013 by Threat Researcher Roy Tobin.

http://www.webroot.com/blog/2013/04/30/fake-microsoft-security-scam/

 

This may not be due to a phishing attempt but is more likely due to a PUA or Potential Unwanted Application having gotten onto your computer.

 

WSA does detect and remove many PUA's, and more are being added, but WSA does not detect all of them. A simple browser add-on with PUA behaviour that is easy to identify and easy to remove is not likely to be detected and removed by WSA. Those that are intentionally difficult to locate and remove are. Please see THIS LINK for more information regarding Webroot's stance on these annoying programs.

 

To make sure that your WSA is checking for PUA's with the best proficiently, it sometimes helps to reset the PUA detection within WSA's settings. For PUA's that had previously been scanned and determined to be OK, but have since been added to detection/removal, you may want to complete the following steps:

 

• Open Webroot SecureAnywhere
  
• Click on ‘Advanced Settings’ from the top right
  
• Select ‘Scan Settings’ from the left side
  
• Unselect the option “Detect Potentially Unwanted Applications”
  
• Click on the Save button (you may have to enter in a CAPTCHA)
  
• Reselect the option to “Detect Potentially Unwanted Applications”
  
• Click on the Save button
  
• Run another scan with Webroot and remove any items that get detected.

 

If that does not helps and you feel or consider yourself technically proficient then you can try these steps to remove it from your system.

 

And if that does not work or you do not feel technically capable then the best thing to do is to Open a Support Ticket & ask Webroot Support to take a look and remove these for you.  There is NO CHARGE for this for valid WSA license holder.

 

Hope that helps?

 

Regards, Baldrick

 

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Hello and Welcome to the Webroot Community!

 

Just to add to the conversation add a good free Ad Blocker like the ones suggested below:

 

For Internet Explorer Ad Block Plus: https://adblockplus.org/

 

For Firefox uBlock: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/?src=ss or Privacy Badger: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/privacy-badger-firefox/



 

Google Chrome uBlock: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin/cjpalhdlnbpafiamejdnhcphjbkeiagm?hl=en or Privacy Badger: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/privacy-badger/pkehgijcmpdhfbdbbnkijodmdjhbjlgp

 

Thanks,

 

Daniel ;)

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The suggestion from using an ad blocker's a good one and the best advise i got here from the other experts. Since running this ublock i haven't had a single popup anymore. You may find the occasional ad pop-up or pop-under or whatever the other kind of is called that slips thru because there are so many different kinds of techniques to deliver this kind of rubbish to your screen that some find a way of slipping thru but like i said. Ublock's been a great improvement for me here.

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? don't react on it as even Admiral Ackbar would say "It's a Trap". This is not genuine from Microsoft but an elaborate scam to gain access to your machine and pilfer money out of your wallet. If you don't already have a good adblocker active i'd suggest you get one. I'm using Ublock which i got from the Chrome store as at home i mainly use Google Chrome on my windows 10 machine.

 

Those scammers are quite desperate and resort to techniques like this in the hope some security minded person reacts on this so they can infect your machine and extort money from you.

 

You can allways run a good scan and if you are worried submit a ticket to support so they can have a look at it with you.

 

It happened to me too in the form of a phone call froma Microsoft rep with bad english so i just hung up the phone and ignored it ( was at another place not at home ).

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