Tech support scammers are attempting to scare Google Chrome users into paying for their services.
They‘ve found a way to “freeze” the web browser, so you won’t be able to close it. A popup message then appears on-screen, prompting you to call a phone number so “engineers can walk you through the removal process”.
The aim of the campaign is to cause panic and try to trick victims into paying for tech support that they don’t actually need, which can lead to their credit card information being stolen.
The technique was spotted by cyber security firm Malwarebytes, which says most of these campaigns come from malicious adverts and infected websites, and that the primary targets are Google Chrome users on Windows.
“During the past quarter we have noted an increase in fake browser alerts pushing tech support scams,” the company said.
“Most of these campaigns come from malicious advertising but also via compromised web sites. Crooks are using all sorts of tricks to not only scare users but also to try and ‘lock’ their browsers.”
According to Malwarebytes, scammers are successfully managing to freeze the Chrome browser by bombarding it with hundreds of downloads in quick succession.
We always like to alert our clients and to potential scams. Since Chrome has taken over as the most popular Web Browser, knocking Internet Explorer off the top spot, it has become a bigger target for scammers looking to con unsuspecting users. As usual, they are faking issues with Chrome and then offering a phone number to call for help…..at a price. As this article from the Independent highlights
