What to do when you get visual and audio alerts that you computer is infected

I have heard of several people in the last couple of weeks whose computer has shown fake warnings of viruses or system problems, often with audio warnings. The computer is locked and you can’t close the windows or get rid of the warnings. The warnings say you must phone a number to repair the computer. DO NOT PHONE THAT COMPANY, they are scam tech support companies. See here for examples https://blog.malwarebytes.org/fraud-scam/2014/11/psa-tech-support-scams-pop-ups-on-the-rise/

Some of these warnings take the form of pornographic images in order to shock and scare the user into calling the fake tech support company and pay for their “services”. See here for more info. https://blog.malwarebytes.org/fraud-scam/2015/05/tech-support-scammers-go-for-pornographic-shocker

Don’t fall for these scams, they’re expensive with the scammers and expensive to sort out afterwards. Instead, go to a trusted tech support company (like me) for professional help.

Here’s what you should do if the computer is locked by fake warnings, maybe with loud audio alerts:

1. Put your finger on the power button and hold it down until the computer shuts itself off
2. Restart the computer and run a full virus scan and malware scan (contact me for my recommended security software)
3. If the results of the scans show infections, or you can’t complete the two steps above, or you feel that you want the computer looked at professionally, contact me.
4. Be aware that a website you visited recently or software you installed or files you opened recently may be the cause of the problem.

Contact me for help and advice, virus and malware removal, or for my recommendations and tuition to keep safe online.