Tech Talk: MS Windows & Pop-up Warnings

By Jarren Ringle

I have been told that people have seen their Windows computer screens covered with warnings from Microsoft or other things.  They say a phone number is displayed, and they are locked out, able to turn off the computer only by pressing the “power button”.  Recently, I experienced that annoyance myself while using Facebook (yes, you might know I’m not a Facebook fan, but I do use it to follow groups or organizations like SourcePoint).

Did I call the support phone number?  NO!  Did I click a link?  NO!  Was I fearful that my computer was possessed by someone?  NO!  But I was certainly annoyed.

So, let’s address what the multiple screens and warnings were on my computer.  A browser is the application that interacts with the internet… it allows us to “browse” the web.

Many times, our browser will open a new “pop-up” window… essentially, it’s running another instance of the browser.  Sometimes, that new window opens over the top of the window we already have open.  The evil doers are using that newly opened window to scare you into interacting with them.  The window will display a warning that your computer has an issue, and if you click a link or call, these “talented” folks will help you.  Sure, they will.

It’s a long list of things that can happen if you click that link or make that call.  None are good, and almost all of them could cost you money, your security, or both. 

Rather than clicking a link or calling a phone number, close the browser… and all its windows.  You can do that in several ways.  I’ll list some ways to close the browser application, but the most drastic is to use the computer’s power switch.  That risks losing what you have been working on if it isn’t saved, or causing an error when you try to restart the computer.

Ways to safely close the browser “popup”:

1. Click the “X” in the upper right corner of the pop-up.  That should just close that pop-up, so you may have to do it for multiple windows.  If it doesn’t close the pop-up or it reopens, this solution won’t work.
2. You can move your mouse pointer over the browser icon (the little picture) at the very bottom of the screen.  When you do that, you should see a small picture of the browser open, and there will be an “X” in the upper-right corner to close the browser.
3. When you move the mouse pointer over the browser icon, right-click on the icon, and a small pop-up menu will appear.  At the bottom of that menu, there will be an “X Close window” option that should close all browser windows at once.
4. If none of these work, don’t be alarmed.  On a Windows computer, you can usually shut down the computer using the shutdown option in the Start menu.  That is a safer option than using the power button.

The most important thing to remember is not to call a phone number or click any link displayed in the pop-up.  It is almost always not a real alert… just an attempt at interacting with you.  Once that interaction begins, it can be a costly mistake.

Stay safe and stay alert to this type of threat.