How to Prevent Pornographic Virus Alerts From Microsoft
What Is the Pornographic Virus Alert From Microsoft?
The pornographic virus alert from Microsoft is a low-level tech support scam that comes with the courtesy of a potentially unwanted program, or PUP. So, what is the popular tech support scam?
A tech support scam is just a way of extracting money from unsuspecting computer users. The scammers would install a potentially unwanted program on your computer, which usually comes as part of a freeware application that you installed, bundled into the installer to make the distributor a few extra bucks at your own expense.
Once installed, the PUP would force the fake error message to be displayed on your screen, or in some cases, it would take over the operation of your web browser. The error message would display on your screen a message advising you that “We have locked this computer for your security” and that “You have been browsing unsafe pornographic websites.”
The error message always displays with a number with which you can call the Microsoft security team on. Guess what? when you call the number, you would not reach a Microsoft security team, instead, you would reach the scammers. In the final part of the tech support scam, the “Microsoft” representative would advise you to pay for a special antivirus tool that would take away the PUP, and restore your browser to normal, and also deletes your history from the pornographic websites.
Of course, this is a complete lie, and they are only after one thing: which is your money.
Under no situations should you call the number that is seen on the pornographic virus alert from "Microsoft support" It is dangerous and could make the situation more worse.
How to Eliminate the Pornographic Virus Alert From Microsoft
The good news is that not minding how irritating the pornographic virus alert from Microsoft is, it is actually easy to remove and it does not cause much harm.
As the majority of PUPs enter into your system hiding behind the installation of another (free) program, you can uninstall the suspect program to remove the alert. Once it is uninstalled, you can scan your system with your antivirus and antimalware programs to catch any other remaining files.
1. Remove the PUP From Your Computer
The fake Microsoft alert usually attempts to lock your browser into full-screen mode and would not let you switch windows to anything useful.
Press CTRL + Shift + ESC or CTRL + Shift + Delete to open the Task Manager. Find the process for your browser, such as Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or so on. Right-click and select End Task to close the browser, together with the fake virus alert.
Now, go over to Control Panel > Programs and Features. Select the Installed On tab to bring up the list of programs chronologically. Now, you should uninstall any program that looks suspicious which has been recently installed on your system.
Regardless, make sure to uninstall any recent installations. Click on the unwanted application, right-click, and select Uninstall.
2. Reset Your Browser Settings
After you have removed the spyware, you can reset your browser settings. The fake pornographic virus alert changes your browser startup page to show the warning each and every time you boot it.
In Google Chrome, select the three-dot icon, then click on Settings. Scroll down to the On Startup section and press Open the New Tab Page to remove the pre-existing option. Now, scroll back up to the Reset and Clean Up section and click on Restore Settings to Their Original Defaults.
This would reset your Chrome browser settings to default, further eliminating all the fake virus alerts from your PC. The browser reset process we did above with chrome is similar for all major web browsers.
3. Clean Your System With Malwarebytes
Once you remove the PUP and reset your browser settings, you can then start scanning your system for any remaining malicious files and programs. The best option is Malwarebytes, whose free offering will search and destroy anything that is of malicious intent.
Download and install Malwarebytes. You can agree to the Premium Trial if you want as it does not need you to make any payment and it will simply expire at the end of the period. Now, Scan your system for any malicious files. When the scan finishes, select and remove all the files.
