Fake Virus Alerts

More and more these days people are getting fake virus alerts which are actually attempts to install malware.  They take different forms but a particularly worrying one looks like an official Microsoft page which gives the appearance that a large number of trojans or viruses have been detected.

Here is an example:

If you do get one of these pop-ups the important things are:

1.	DON'T PANIC and
2.	DON'T CLICK ON ANYTHING

If you click on the panel which says 'Start Protection' (or, indeed, anywhere else on the pop-up) you will, in effect, be giving permission for malware to be downloaded onto your computer!  And if that happens you will probably then be asked to pay goodness knows how much to activate some software to supposedly clean your computer.

So how do you get out of such a situation?  Fortunately the process is simple - use the 'Task Manager' to close down your browser and below are guidelines for how to do this.

1. Press the Ctrl, Alt and Del keys or the Ctrl, Shift and Esc keys simultaneously
   (Alternatively you can place your mouse pointer on a vacant space on the Taskbar at the bottom of your screen, right-click your mouse and then select 'Task Manager')

2. You should then see a panel similar to this:
   
   

3. Select the browser you are using - e.g. Internet Explorer

4. Click on the 'End Task' button at the bottom of the panel

5. Close the Task Manager

Telephone Calls

While not in the same category as the above, if you receive any telephone calls to the effect that it's likely your computer has been infected by a virus - the person might even say they are working on behalf of Microsoft - End the conversation immediately!

These calls are complete scams and if you go along with what is being said you will end-up being well out of pocket for unnecessary 'work' together with the probability that your computer will have been compromised.  And that's to say nothing about where your payment card details will be passed-on to!