Well, it’s another day, and yet another dangerous recurring scam is rearing its ugly head yet again.
This scam first made its appearance way back in 2016 and then it quickly went into hiding. Now it’s back.
Unfortunately, this exploit is extremely easy to fall for because it looks almost exactly like the real Microsoft Windows error messages that we’re used to seeing from time to time.
Microsoft refers to this scam as Hicurdismos, and it works like this:
1 – A fake error message that mimics a typical Windows BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) pops up on your screen. This is what it looks like:
2 – If you call the 800 number at the bottom of the error message you’ll talk to a scammer posing as a Microsoft Tech Support rep. The fake rep will try to talk you into downloading a software tool that will supposedly fix the error for you.
Of course in actuality, there is no error to fix. The download is actually additional malware.
There are two things that I recommend you keep in mind at all times:
1 – If this message ever pops up on your PC it will mean that your computer has already been infected with malware. If so, I recommend that you run the malware scans mentioned in this post.
2 – Real Windows error messages don’t include contact information for “Support” such as the 800 number listed at the bottom of the fake BSOD you see above. Such contact information in a BSOD error message is a dead giveaway that the message is a scam.
Bottom line: Hackers and scammers are getting better at their deceitful craft all the time. That’s why it pays to always be on guard and question everything you see online and on your computer screen.
You can read more about what Microsoft said about this scam back in 2016 in this Microsoft security alert.