Lost $200 to a fake antivirus pop-up last month

I was on a news site and got a scary pop-up saying my PC was infected, telling me to call a number. I panicked and called, they said they needed remote access to 'fix' it. They charged my card $200 for 'premium support' and installed nothing. Took me a week to get my bank to reverse it. Has anyone else had a scam like this try to get remote access?

2 comments

2 Comments

young.sarah22d ago

Oh man, that's rough. I once almost fell for one of those while trying to watch a free movie. The pop-up was so loud and the screen went all red... I was halfway to getting my credit card before my roommate walked in and was like 'Sarah, no.' Felt like a total goof. They're really good at making you panic.

umaprice22d ago

But come on, is it really that big a deal? It's just a loud pop-up trying to scare you. They're annoying for sure, but if you just close the tab nothing actually happens. People act like it's some high-tech hack when it's just a dumb ad. I've clicked away from a hundred of those and my computer is fine. The panic is what they want, so maybe don't give it to them.