You’re working on your computer when suddenly, your screen is taken over by scary warning messages and even an alarm sound on your speakers.
It’s a tech support scam, and it happened to Redondo Beach resident Beverly Morse.
“It was a very bizarre moment,” explained Morse, who is a lifelong writer and photographer.
The popups looked like they originated from Windows Defender and said there was a virus detected and not to shut off the computer. There was a toll-free number to call for help.
“It’s looking like a threat that if i don’t press one of the buttons like the one that says accept, I’m going to lose the program I’m working on and maybe everything else that’s on my screen,” explained Morse.
She panicked but grabbed her phone and started to record the screen, then dialed up her daughter to help her decide what to do.
“I didn’t want to turn [my computer] off cause I didn’t know if it was telling the truth or not,” said Morse.
Turns out Morse narrowly avoided a scam that has tricked so many into handing over personal information, credit card data and more.
“It’s such a huge industry right now it’s scary to see how much it works,” said Chris Hadnagy, an expert in social engineering scams.
“You see a screen comes it says your computers locked, and you need to call this number to get it unlocked… when you call that number, they of course want to you to pay in gift cards or…
