“Your computer is disabled. Please call Microsoft.” is a popup notification that pretends to be a message from Microsoft support. In fact, such banners are a sign of malware presence, primarily – potentially unwanted program (PUA). In this post, you will see why it is a bad idea to follow the instructions on this banner and how to get rid of it.
“Your computer is disabled. Please call Microsoft.” description
As I have mentioned before, this notification appears as a pop-up banner covering the browser’s content. There is no correlation between the websites you browse and the appearance of that banner. However, it states that your PC is blocked. The popup states that you got the malware after visiting the pornographic websites:
Do not restart or use your computer.
Your computer is disabled. Please call Microsoft.
Access is the block security reason for this computer.
Please contact us immediately. A technician will help you solve the problem.
This message can easily be skipped, and it will bring no effect to your computer. The possible consequences of closing the window or rebooting the PC are just a scarecrow. A virus, which shows you this message, tries to force you to call the specified number. It is presented as a Microsoft Support contact number. However, it isn’t. You can easily check its supporting methods on their official website. These scammers act similar to another group of cyber burglars, who exploit the FastSupport name.
The exact appearance of that popup alert
In some cases, “alert from Microsoft” in the shape of a pop-up message may completely block your web browser. It is impossible to use it in any possible method – the notification covers the whole window. Sometimes, that banner may even cover the upper panel – Close cross and minimize button will not be available to press. In such cases, the only way to close the web browser is to kill the process in Task Manager.
The virus that causes these pop-up advertisements can be classified as adware. That type of malware generates profit for its creators, showing different advertisements to the users who got it on their PCs. Common symptoms are well-known for all active PC users – ads are present on each page and cannot be removed with AdBlock; the browser window opens automatically and shows you the page full of ads. It is tough to predict what will happen if you press on one of these promotions, but, apparently, nothing good.
Why do they do it?
The developers of “Your computer is disabled. Please call Microsoft.” show you this annoying banner to make you call them. While talking, they will offer you to install several security tools, depending on which ones were pre-paid to them. Of course, these antivirus programs are rather a scareware, than a proper anti-malware tool. You will see numerous alerts about problems on your computer. As the programs state, they can be solved after purchasing the full version of these apps.
All these “problems” are 100% fictional. Fake anti-malware software can choose a random file and block it, stating that it is vulnerable or malicious. It can easily block the program’s file you use every day, so it will not start or run with errors. The other side of the problem is that many users trust these programs, purchase them and use them for daily activities. Its developers receive the stimulus and keep developing their “antivirus”. Users who understand that this app is malicious meet another trouble – scareware is hard to delete without the proper anti-malware tool. You are not able to find such antiviruses in the list of installed programs, and there is no uninstall.exe in their root directory.
Besides installing different potentially unwanted programs, scammers may also perform different social engineering tricks. These can be targeted on your credentials, personal data, or even online banking information. They generate profit not only for PUPs installation but also for ads it shows massively to its victims.
