Ignore ’your PC is infected’ pop-ups

A pop-up screaming that your computer is infected, often with a phone number, is the scam itself — not a warning about one.

1. Don’t call the number or click anything in the pop-up, including the ’close’ or ’scan now’ buttons.
2. Recognise this scareware — real antivirus never tells you to ring a phone number.
3. Close the browser tab; if it won’t close, shut the whole browser from Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc).
4. Never let anyone you reached this way connect to your computer remotely.
5. Reopen your browser and decline to restore the previous tabs to avoid the same page.
6. If you did call or grant access, disconnect, tell your IT team, and change passwords from another device.