A prevalent Internet scam circulating is trying to scare users into forking over money. Susan Jhun filed the following NY1 for You report.
Queens resident Emmanuel Hileah received a warning when he unknowingly mistyped a domain name and his computer froze.
"Important Security message. Please call the number provided as soon as possible," the warning read.
"This thing pops up, 'Oh, your computer is infected,'" Hileah said.
Having been a target of this type of scam before, Hileah didn't fall for it. But according to the FBI Internet Crime Center, many people do. It's called scareware, since scammers try to scare you into purchasing fake antivirus software with a seemingly genuine security warning.
A pop-up message tells you your computer is infected with a virus, and to get rid of it, you need to order the antivirus software being advertised. However, if you buy it, either it will do nothing, or it could compromise your computer by installing malicious software onto your system.
"They basically have a website with a built-in script that freezes your Internet Explorer," Hileah said.
According to the FBI, it's easy to spot scareware. First, ask, does the pop-up use "non-clickable" icons? To make it look authentic, scareware will show a list of reputable icons of software companies. However, the user can’t click through to the sites.
Another red flag is when the pop-up ad is hard to close. Scareware pop-ups employ aggressive techniques and will not close easily after clicking the "close" or "X" button.
The FBI reminds people to make sure their computer is fully protected by a legitimate, up-to-date antivirus software. Also, the FBI advises users not to call any numbers that are listed and certainly don't download anything.
In Hileah's case, he was able to get out of the screen by pressing Control, Alt and Delete, and unplugging and restarting his computer.
If you think you’ve been victimized by scareware, file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.