If you’ve ever encountered a pop-up similar to the one shown in the image above on your computer, don’t worry. This is merely a clever attempt to sell you on a product disguised as a legitimate warning from Microsoft Windows. If you were to click OK you’d be whisked away to some site offering you an amazing deal on a product you must have. In the case of the example below, it would be for Personal Antivirus.
Phrasing is key in determining the legitimacy of messages like these. The biggest clue is the mention of the product, Personal Antivirus in the case of our example. A Windows warning message will never say “You’ve got Spyware, You need Program X to get rid of it”. Also, a real Windows message wouldn’t be as vague as the one pictured here. The opening sentence’s inclusion of “your computer has various types of adware and viruses” is another big clue that the message is false.
Should you ever see anything like this display on your computer, I highly suggest ending it by hitting CTL+ALT+DEL , selecting Internet Explorer/Firefox (whatever browser you were using last), and the end task in lieu of merely clicking X. Should the pop-up have came from someone with a nefarious agenda, clicking anywhere on it could take you to a site with actual spyware or viruses on it. That’s a worst case scenario, though. They’re usually just trying to sell you something. To be safe, stick to the CTL+ALT+DEL method for getting rid of them.
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