Suspicious AntiVirus Alert Popped Up on Web Page

Anonymous
2013-05-11T03:08:31+00:00

I am suspicious about messages that popped up when I went to a web page I'd never been to before. First a message popped up stating "Microsoft Antivirus has found critical process activity on your PC. You need to clean your computer to prevent system breakage."  And then right afterwards another message appeared -- I might have pressed okay --  in a rectangular box with a thick red stripe across the top that read "Potential Threat Details," and then below "Microsoft Security Essentials detected potential threats that might compromise your privacy or damage your computer. You need to clean your computer immediately to prevent the system crash."  But I noticed that "might" was spelled "mihgt." Then below that it listed the threats as:

Trojan PSW.Win32Launch

HackTool:Win32/Welevate.A

Adward.Win32Fraud

It said each of the three was "critical" and "active" and recommended I "remove" them.

Then below all this was a box I could check that said "clean computer."

Now aside from the misspelling of "might," I do not have Microsoft Security Essentials; I have Windows Defender, so I'm pretty sure this is a fake alert.

And I didn't press "clean computer." But I'm wondering what would have happened if I had; would I have gotten a virus, or a sales pitch to buy more antivirus software? But mostly I want to know what really will happen when my antivirus program -- which, again, is Windows Defender for Windows 8 -- does detect a real virus. It hasn't happened yet so I don't know, and I also would like to be able to distinguish the real alerts from the fake ones, especially if the fake ones do not have misspelled words as a telling sign.

Thanks

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | 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.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2013-05-11T09:37:27+00:00

It is a fake alert and creater of that alert can enter as many virus names as he/she can, don't worry about that alert. Just practice safe browsing, do not click on Ads (specially of unknown source), always use original software and download them from their genuine sites only. Run scans from the tools you downloaded, and use free version only (neither Pro nor Trial).

About Trojan in quarantine-

Items in quarantine are neutral and cannot harm your PC, just like criminals in jail. There is no need to delete items in quarantine. You can also run a full scan of your PC to ensure no virus is lurking in your PC.

Was this answer helpful?

60+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2013-05-13T15:28:33+00:00

As per your description above, except for the part... "it said it couldn't do much with that"... (Don't know what you mean by this?)

When someone tries to close AdwCleaner after clicking on 'Search' button then AdwCleaner alerts that it has only scanned for Adwares, not removed them and asks to click on 'Delete' button to complete removal. This is what he is trying to say.

Was this answer helpful?

20+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

71 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2016-09-08T18:26:22+00:00

    In January, 2016 I received a pop-up message from TimeWarnerCable (they didn't send the message) informing me that Microsoft found a trojan virus on my computer and that they had "special software" to remove it.  Thinking this was legit, I called the number on the screen and got talked into buying some bogus software that was never actually loaded onto my computer.  As a result of the scam, my computer didn't work right and subsequently died.  I notified my bank about what had happened, researched the phone number, etc discovered that I had been scammed.  I was able to get my account and credit card changed and I notified Better Business Bureau, the NY State Attorney General's Office and local media about the scam.

    I received a phone call from someone named Alex today (9/8/16) saying that he was part of a company who was investigating the scam and they were going to give me my money back provided I gave them access to my bank information.  I asked them to email me the information and the form that I "needed" and he gave me a bogus email address (******@hotmail.com).  Once again I alerted my bank as to what happened and investigated the phone number.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2015-07-30T10:18:48+00:00

    When I logged on to aol an a virus alert popped up and said Microsoft detected

    a box saying Microsoft had suspicious alert and to contact Microsoft but locked all

    an I had to close down my  computer toget out of AOL.  How can I resolve this?

    Dorothy Lamberth

    **Remove Tech Support** Scam **pop-up** (Call For **Support** Scam)

    You may also wish to contact AOL if they are the provider of your antivirus software.

    -steve

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2015-07-30T03:58:56+00:00

    I would agree, the tool bar thing has gotten out of hand as of late. Even installing Java required updates have the hidden and check marked toolbars that I uncheck to still find them in the program listing. Some even require manual removal. If you don't know how to do that you should read up on it before attempting that.

    The fact you got the message is the alert that you have a virus or have been attacked, my daughter's laptop got the FBI-$4000 alert to but I had it up and running in factory reset state in 33 minutes no virus or hack. She had only had the machine a few weeks.

    As stated NEVER click links you haven't already clicked in the past in fact make sure you bookmark reliable links so you can enjoy surfing from the bookmark menu not from forced messages triggered by a mouse over or just an internal kick start to making the virus appear. Some are on a clock and on a date and time start annoying the **** outta you. I found a folder in Program Files and it clearly stated it was the AdFolder! it had several .dll files and a couple of application files so I traced it four or five folders deep in the program files and manually removed it, no more than 10 files in that folder only for it to come back the next day so I missed it somewhere else. Cleared the download folder, temp folder and ran all the obvious stuff.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments