Tech Support Scams: Pop-Ups, Calls, and Fake Renewals

A warning, a call, or a search ad.

The FTC describes three openings. A fake pop-up that looks like it comes from a well-known company and urges you to call a number; Microsoft adds that scammers may put the browser into full screen with messages that will not close, so it looks locked. A call or text from someone posing as a technician, sometimes with a spoofed caller ID showing a real support number. Or a search ad or search result for tech support that leads to the scammers’ own number.

Real companies do not do either of these things.

The FTC: legitimate tech companies will not contact you by phone, email, or text to tell you there is a problem with your computer, and real security pop-ups will never ask you to call a phone number. Microsoft: its error and warning messages never include phone numbers, it does not make unsolicited calls to fix your computer, and it will never ask you to pay for support in cryptocurrency or gift cards. If a pop-up has a number on it, do not call it.

Remote access, a fake scan, and a fee.

Once on the phone, the scammer asks to connect to your computer remotely, pretends to scan it, finds a “malicious program,” and offers to remove it for a fee, often insisting on gift cards, a wire or bank transfer, cryptocurrency, or a payment app, because, as the FTC notes, those are hard to reverse. Microsoft warns that with remote access, scammers misrepresent normal system messages as problems and often install malware or ransomware that can steal information. The worst version escalates: the “technician” claims your accounts were hacked or linked to crimes and hands you to a fake government agent who tells you to move money to a “federal safety locker” or buy gold. No such locker exists, and no one from the government will tell you to move money to protect it.

The 24-hour deadline is the hook.

Another version arrives by email or text: a notice that you were charged hundreds of dollars to renew a tech support subscription, using names such as Geek Squad, McAfee, or Norton, with a number to call within 24 hours to dispute it. Callers are asked for remote access, sent to a spoofed refund page to enter bank or card details, then told they were “refunded too much” and must pay it back with gift cards or a transfer. Check your statements instead. If there is no such charge, the message is a scam; if there is, report it to your card company or bank and ask them to reverse it.

Remove, scan, reset, and change passwords.

Microsoft’s steps: uninstall any applications the scammers asked you to install, and if they had access to the device, consider resetting it. Update your security software and run a full scan. Change any password you typed or that was saved on the computer, starting with email and banking, and change it everywhere you reused it; add two-factor authentication. If you paid, contact the bank, card company, or payment service immediately; for gift cards, follow the gift card steps.

Go to someone you chose.

If you think your computer has a problem, the FTC suggests updating your security software and running a scan, then going to someone you know and trust, the software company’s own support, or the store where you bought the equipment. A computer that is genuinely slow usually has an ordinary cause; see the slow computer checklist. Report tech support scams to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, which uses reports to build cases against scammers.