Access to this PC has been blocked for security reasons

I was at a friend's house and while she was on a social media site that will remain nameless she clicked on what appeared to be news about her favorit celeb but instead got a scare.



There is absolutely NO Antivirus/Security program that will protect you from this.

The reason being that there is no virus. Just a fake error message that puts the browser in full screen and prevents you from closing the browser unless you CTRL-ALT-DELETE and open task manager to end the process (your average user has no idea how to do this). It produces several beeps initially and then there is a synthesized voice telling you to call Microsoft support to prevent data/financial loss.

The number IS NOT Microsoft support but scammers that will trick unsuspecting marks into granting remote access to their PCs so these miscreants can wreak further havoc. The majority of the time they will run bogus system scans and inform you that they've found all kinds of non-existent problems with your system and cheerfully offer to correct them once you provide your credit card number. In some instances they will plant trojans/backdoors on your PC or in worst cases, ransomware.

This is a textbook example of social engineering.

They of course prey on both the tech illiterate and gullible.

This is exacly why I am extremely cynical, have been since I was a teenager and even more so now. As I've stated before, I don't use any kind of Antivirus/security programs on any of my computers, In my opinion they offer nothing more than a false sense of security by encouraging haphazard behavior on the internet. Eternal vigilance is my antivirus/anti-email scam defense and should be yours because the internet is a free-for-all, not a shiny happy place where everyone is your friend. I despise social media, when I want to be social I turn off the computer and leave the house.

I have several of these scam websites saved - every time I encounter one I save it to my PC with HTTrack for study. This one was hosted on Amazon but will undoubtedly be removed within 24 hours. How many people do you think were scammed into handing over their credit card or other personal info during that time?

 

Wow! I haven't seen this scam in years! Then again I've calmed down my surfing in that time.
Excellent post ClippyBeer.

Amen!!

 

I have Task Manager always running, 'Always on Top', & as low as I can move it.
Some times the 'three finger salute' does not bring up task manager. This way, its always there. Only been doing this a few months, seems to be a few things that XP Firefox cant handle.The small portion of TM always showing at the bottom does not bother me.

 

If you use the xp steadystate addon, you can just power the system off and reboot and get back to what you were doing without worry--just don't go to that site again.

And if you need to go to that site, use the tens project or lightweight portable security live cd and boot that instead.