Beware pop-up hacking warning
Q: I clicked on something I probably shouldn’t have while browsing. A screen popped up saying I had been hacked and to call the number on my screen. I called that number and was told he could fix my computer for a fee. I gave him control of my computer, and they did some things and now my computer seems to be running OK. Did they also leave a Trojan horse or some other malware on my computer?
A: This is a pretty common scam. A website will present a pop-up ad with a scary warning that encourages you to call a number to remediate a virus or security problem.
The popup ad can often be quite persistent and rebooting and scanning for malware will do nothing to remove it.
If you ever suspect your PC has been compromised you should never, ever call the company that is alerting you. Especially if the alert comes in the form of a pop-up window or an unsolicited email. If you suspect there’s a problem, find a tech you trust to investigate.
You should also never, under any circumstance, give control of your PC to someone you don’t know, unless you are sure they are from a reputable company. And to be clear, no reputable company is going to just contact you out of the blue asking to help you with a computer problem.
These scams exist to do one thing, and that is to separate you from your money. The scammers could have placed unwanted software on your PC and they could have pulled personal data from your computer.
I would suggest resetting any account passwords you might have saved to your PC and I would strongly recommend finding a good tech to take a look at your computer to make sure there is nothing lurking there that could cause you a problem later on.