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Virus warning with countdown to destruction of your PC? Microsoft News home page.

Anonymous
2018-12-26T12:13:34+00:00

Hi I get an error message which makes a horrible screeching sound and a countdown timer which basically says you have to install some update otherwise all your files will be destroyed? For obvious reasons I didn't let it go to zero and just see what happened, I just pulled the mains plug and re-booted all seems fine. This happens regularly on the Microsoft News home page. My antivirus (Kaspersky) doesn't find anything wrong, PC is running fine, its had all the updates.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Security and privacy

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. DaveM121 871.3K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2018-12-26T12:18:41+00:00

    Hi Digimaan

    Yes, this is very annoying and prevalent at the moment, when that happens, open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) then find your browser on the processes tab and just end that process, it is better for your system rather than pulling the plug

    You should run a scan with the free version of MalwareBytes to see if there is anything on your system causing this browser re-direct

    https://www.malwarebytes.com/

    When that scan completes, restart your PC, you can then uninstall MalwareBytes . ..

    ________________________________________________________

    Standard Disclaimer This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

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  2. Reza-Ameri 45,806 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2018-12-26T19:00:33+00:00

    Do you have any screenshot of this message?

    If yes, please post it back here.

    Try contact Kaspersky support team and discuss this issue with them.

    Try run scan with Windows Defender Offline:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17466/windows-defender-offline-help-protect-my-pc

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  3. Rob Koch 25,875 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2018-12-26T14:42:53+00:00

    The reason almost none of these fake popup messages are detected by security software is that they are advertising driven, displayed via script contained within one of the ads displayed by whatever ad supported pages (in your case MSN News) you happen to be viewing at the time.

    All of the major news websites and other popular ad supported websites have had varying numbers of such popups delivered through one or more of the ad networks which sell advertising slots on their platforms.  There are literally hundreds of these displaying thousands of ads, so finding and killing off the offenders is a needle-in-the-haystack game of whack-a-mole.

    The most popular method of stopping these is thus by using ad blockers, though the proper use of privacy controls like turning Off the Windows 8/10 Privacy setting "Let apps use my advertising ID...", enabling the browser setting "Send Do Not Track requests to sites you visit...", as well as disabling 3rd-Party (e.g. Tracking) Cookies can also be effective.

    The reason for this is that these advertisements including the popups are being delivered to your PC based on tracking information the websites provide to the advertising networks which have identified your browsing habits as someone who may be more likely to respond to the popup by doing whatever action it requests.  In your case, installing a [likely malware] fake update.

    In case it's not clear, the website based, advertising network supported model is collapsing, while the in app display model which is typically better controlled has been growing in parallel.  Though a few apps may still allow display items that can be abused to inject scripts, these will likely eventually disappear as this avenue for malicious popup advertising becomes better understood.

    Rob

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  4. Sumit D - IA 166.8K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2018-12-26T12:37:04+00:00

    Hi,
    Via Bruce Hagen post here
    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/for...

    It's a scam.

    Use the Task Manager to exit the browser. Reboot and see if the pop-up goes away.

    How to Use the New Task Manager in Windows 8 or 10
    http://www.howtogeek.com/108742/how-to-use-the-...

    How to Use the Task Manager in Windows 7
    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-...

    If that does not resolve the issue, follow the instructions here.

    For Edge:

    User Scott_Ki has provided this solution.

    ************************************************

    When this happened to me, I closed Microsoft Edge using the Task Manager.

    Then in the search bar next to the Windows 10 logo on the bottom off the screen (I call it the "Cortana Search"), I typed in google.com and hit enter.

    Microsoft Edge opened up with a new tab for Google. You can see the offending site still opens in a tab that doesn't have focus. Click the "X" to close Edge. Do not click on the offending site tab or it will get focus again.

    When Edge closes nicely, it won't "Restore" the sessions and the offending site tab will be gone.

    Source: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/foru...

    And if the problem persists:

    Remove Tech Support Scam pop-up (Call For Support Scam)
    http://malwaretips.com/blogs/remove-tech-suppor...

    Disclaimer:
    This is a non-Microsoft website which would provide accurate and safe information. Watch out for ads on the site which are frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). There is no need to buy paid products to fix your computers as they do more harm than good sometimes.

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