I know that most of you are aware of these scams. However, as this
article was posted on July 4, meaning it's quite current at the time of
this writing, I thought it wouldn't hurt to pass this along.
From howtogeek.com
Look Out: Browser Crashing Tech Support Pop-ups Are Back
Those pop-ups that slow down PCs and tell you to call “Microsoft” at a
sketchy 1-800 number are back, thanks to an newly exploited browser bug.
Chrome and Firefox users are both reportedly vulnerable to the attack,
which disguises itself as a legitimate error message. The bug exploited
here was thought to be patched, but scammers seem to have found an new
way to trigger the bug.
Dan Goodin, writing for Ars Technica, outlines how it works:
The scam technique, which came to light in February, works by abusing
the programming interface known as the
window.navigator.msSaveOrOpenBlob. By combining the API with other
functions, the scammers force the browser to save a file to disk, over
and over, at intervals so fast it’s impossible for normal users to see
what’s happening. Within five to 10 seconds, the browser becomes
completely unresponsive.
So your computer is completely crashed, and there’s a phone number on
the screen that promises to fix it. If you’re the sort of person who
reads articles like this you probably know not to call the number, but a
decent percentage of people don’t.
Which is why you should tell your friends and family to never call tech
support numbers that randomly pop up on your screen. You could even tell
them to call you instead, if you’re feeling generous.
Google and Mozilla are both working on patches for this bug, after which
the cat and mouse game will probably continue. Arm the people you know
with knowledge.
--
David Goldfield, Assistive Technology Specialist WWW.David-Goldfield.Com
