Delivery
Button Link or Click Bait*
Content
There exist a plethora of publishing websites that offer compelling articles for leisurely reading. Regrettably, the issue at hand is scammers propagating their deceiving adverts on such respectable websites. These fraudsters veil their scams as click-bait articles, capitalizing on headlines concerning film and TV stars, often fabricating alarming news about them, such as contracting a rare disease or even death. Upon clicking, a user may be redirected to a harmful website that attempts to download detrimental code onto their computer, or show messages riddled with false information to instigate users into taking unwarranted action. Unfortunately, some users may find it challenging to close these fake messages without resorting to shutting down their entire machine. It is crucial to be circumspect of such scams to protect oneself from falling victim to these dishonest schemes.
The “Tech Support Scam” has been a frequently reported issue by our customers. The scam works in the following manner:
- An unsuspecting user clicks on a “read more” link on an article and is diverted to a fake website or page that imitates genuine software providers, displaying a warning that the user’s computer is infected. The page may even have red text or flashing lights to add authenticity to their claims.
- On this page, there will be a phone number for technical support, which is, in reality, a fraudulent scam.
- When unsuspecting users call, the scammers, who have gained the user’s trust over the phone, pretends to provide technical support but in reality, remotely access the user’s computer and steals sensitive data such as their email contacts, usernames, passwords, or install virus software or keyloggers to gain control of the user’s device in the future.
- Users may also be convinced to sign up for protection against viruses. We urge our customers to exercise caution when receiving such messages and avoid clicking on questionable links.
Actions
- It is very difficult to train the human mind not to do something, such as not touching the red button, given that it is often extremely challenging to spot a potential scam. The most obvious sign would be if the facts presented are so unbelievably unbelievable that they could only be a scam.
- If you are unsure whether a link is genuine, do not click on it.
- If you do click on it and a virus page appears, do not click on or call tech support.
- Instead, shut down your computer, disconnect from the internet (even if it means turning off your internet router), and try to close the page if possible.
- Run a full virus scan on your computer. If the scan detects and removes/quarantines a virus, continue to run scans until nothing is detected.
Comments
- Please ensure that you have installed and are actively using a comprehensive antivirus software on your computer.
- It is vital to keep all of your windows, computer software, and firmware up-to-date. Additionally, it’s crucial to have a reliable backup system in place that is also regularly updated.
- We recommend altering passwords on your applications, specifically if they have been accessed from your computer.
- We highly advise against storing financial-related usernames and passwords in the internet browser’s password section.
- Thank you for taking these precautions to ensure the safety and security of your computer and financial information.
- Legitimate tech companies won’t contact you by phone, email, or text message to tell you there’s a problem with your computer.
- Security pop-up warnings from real tech companies will never ask you to call a phone number or click on a link.
Click Bait
(on the internet) content whose main purpose is to attract attention and encourage visitors to click on a link to a particular web page
