MACKTEXAS
Well-known Member
I was researching a dentist and a page suddenly displayed which locked up my computer, accompanied by a flashing banner with a phone number, an annoying beep like an alarm clock, and an audible message that kept repeating a phone number to call for Microsoft support to unlock my computer, and the audible warning, "Do not attempt a shutdown." [Something else was stated that doing a shutdown could harm my entire system . . . I forget the exact words.]
I could not access any part of my screen or task bar in order to end the task, because the warning banner dominated the entire screen.
I know exactly what site caused this, but I'm not posting the name of the site here, since I don't know the legality of that, and due to the fact that the site was identified as "safe / clean" when I filtered it first through (both) link checkers I use: "VirusTotal" and "TrendMicro." It is the only website I was in when the issue occurred, and no other windows or browsers were open.
If you encounter such an issue, do the following: (1) unplug the router to kill your WIFI connection ASAP, (2) do a hard shutdown, which is accomplished by pressing and holding down the power button on your computer for 5-10 seconds until it turns off completely. Do not attempt any other action and above all, do not call any number displayed on your screen.
After taking those steps, I then plugged the modem back in, turned the laptop back on, logged back in, then did a security scan and a Malwarebytes scan. Both showed my system was clean; no security issues found.
I could not access any part of my screen or task bar in order to end the task, because the warning banner dominated the entire screen.
I know exactly what site caused this, but I'm not posting the name of the site here, since I don't know the legality of that, and due to the fact that the site was identified as "safe / clean" when I filtered it first through (both) link checkers I use: "VirusTotal" and "TrendMicro." It is the only website I was in when the issue occurred, and no other windows or browsers were open.
If you encounter such an issue, do the following: (1) unplug the router to kill your WIFI connection ASAP, (2) do a hard shutdown, which is accomplished by pressing and holding down the power button on your computer for 5-10 seconds until it turns off completely. Do not attempt any other action and above all, do not call any number displayed on your screen.
After taking those steps, I then plugged the modem back in, turned the laptop back on, logged back in, then did a security scan and a Malwarebytes scan. Both showed my system was clean; no security issues found.
