Microsoft Support Scams are on the rise again! This time they’re trickier.

Lately, we’ve notice a rise in the number of calls from people who have fallen victim to Microsoft Support Scams.  This isn’t a new problem and it has had several iterations, including phone calls.

The current “version” is rather persistent. It normally starts as a pop-up, often filling the entire screen, and is normally from an ad or accidentally reached/mis-typed website address. NOTE: This is not a genuine Microsoft message, nor is it an actual Microsoft support company that you would be calling; so please don’t. The worst part is that when you close the message it pops up again immediately. There is normally one slight change to the message however, there should now be a check box to prevent additional dialog boxes.

They’re really hoping that you’ll call and give them access to your computer remotely. From there, they can access your personal data, saved passwords, and even install viruses. Of course, they offer to fix the “problems” they show you, often for around $300 initially. Sadly, most of the actual problems are ones they are causing. They will try to scare you into paying them to fix your computer by saying that your computer won’t work at all anymore. Unfortunately, this can be somewhat true as they have already started disabling and uninstalling programs and drivers, installing viruses and malware, and in general wreaking havoc on your computer.

To fix the issues these companies cause, you would be looking at, on the lower cost side of things, the Virus Removal & Repair services, to the Windows OS System Corruption Repair services (which is normally what we have to do in these cases), to the worst case scenario, the Fresh Start Complete Repair.

Remember: Microsoft will not call you. Microsoft will not tell you to call them. If you have questions or concerns, call someone you can trust… Us. We’ve received the Angie’s List Super Service Award for 5 years in a row, as well as numerous reviews on sites like Google, Yelp, Facebook and others. We are a lot less expensive than these scam artist, and you’re computer will actually work better. 😉