G'day,

I turned on my computer and I received a warning which I thought was M S E saying I had a virus. I was asked to click on a chat site.  I talked vie typing to a Mike that informed me that I have a problem with my computer.  He asked me questions about the computer.  He told me to wait as my computer had been hacked and I had a serious problem.  He asked for my phone number and a person would phone me to restore my computer.  A James phoned me and asked if he could look through my computer files.  He looked through them and pointed out all the hackers, from all over the world.  He told me that they had hacked into M S E and also destroyed my Firewall.  He said he would help me to remove them and said he had.  I was then told he was going to install another security, firewall and a pop up blocker for that I had to pay $440.  I told him I was on a pension and could not afford that.  He then lowered the price to $220 he even suggested that I pay $110 now and $110 later.  I said no as I could not afford it.

I have looked into my history and it is empty. So I could not get the web site.

I have just completed a Full Scan with M S E and nothing is wrong.

I am writing this to warn others.  Has anybody else had this happen to them? 

• Moved by Guillaume Rouyre [MBA, MVP, P-Seller]MVP Thursday, March 12, 2015 7:55 AM Wrong forum

Hi Aussie Perry,

Thank you for posting this issue on the TechNet community forums.

From the description I understand that you received a warning, appearing to be from Microsoft Security Essentials, stating that your machine was infected with a virus. You go on to say that you were asked to click on a chat site and that, upon doing so, you were asked by the advisor to pay a sum of $440 to fix the problem. Is this correct?

Let me start by clarifying, for everybody here, that Microsoft would never offer to install a third party security solution on your machine, let alone ask you to pay a sum of money for the services. Did the agent you spoke to claim to work for Microsoft?

It sounds to me like you were the victim of a scam agency, impersonating Microsoft. I sincerely hope that you didn't provide them with any payment information and ended the session immediately after they asked for such information. However, if you did fall victim to their scam I would recommend contacting your bank to make them aware of the situation.

Here's a helpful link for you:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-GB/security/online-privacy/phishing-scams.aspx

• Edited by --Zach 19 hours 22 minutes ago

Hi Aussie Perry,

Thank you for posting this issue on the TechNet community forums.

From the description I understand that you received a warning, appearing to be from Microsoft Security Essentials, stating that your machine was infected with a virus. You go on to say that you were asked to click on a chat site and that, upon doing so, you were asked by the advisor to pay a sum of $440 to fix the problem. Is this correct?

Let me start by clarifying, for everybody here, that Microsoft would never offer to install a third party security solution on your machine, let alone ask you to pay a sum of money for the services. Did the agent you spoke to claim to work for Microsoft?

It sounds to me like you were the victim of a scam agency, impersonating Microsoft. I sincerely hope that you didn't provide them with any payment information and ended the session immediately after they asked for such information. However, if you did fall victim to their scam I would recommend contacting your bank to make them aware of the situation.

Here's a helpful link for you:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-GB/security/online-privacy/phishing-scams.aspx

• Edited by --Zach Wednesday, April 01, 2015 11:58 AM