YOUR APPLE COMPUTER HAS BEEN LOCKED Scam (Mac) is a tech support scam that tries to trick users into thinking they need assistance from tech support to unblock their computers. It’s essentially a scam that deceives users into seeking help from fake tech support. The scam displays a fake virus alert with a warning to call the displayed phone number to get assistance in removing a supposed virus infection. While the warning may seem alarming, it’s nothing more than a scam. It’s not dangerous as long as you don’t interact with it or call the number. If you were to call, you’d be connected to professional scammers who’d try to lure hundreds of dollars out of you.
YOUR APPLE COMPUTER HAS BEEN LOCKED Scam (Mac) is a fairly typical scam that targets Mac users. While this particular scam targets Mac users, there are plenty of similar scams targeting Windows users as well. Whether they target Mac or Windows users, they all work pretty much the same way and follow the same pattern, even if they’re operated by different scammers.
The way such scams work is users are first redirected to sites imitating the legitimate Windows, or in this case, Apple site. When users enter the site, an alert pops up explaining that their computers are infected with a virus, which resulted in a blocked computer. The virus is supposedly stealing users’ files, data, login credentials, etc. Furthermore, Apple has supposedly blocked users’ infected computers.
One distinct characteristic that all tech support scams have is a phone number for supposed tech support. The virus alerts usually claim that users should call the number to get assistance in removing the infection. However, those who do call would be connected to professional scammers rather than Apple technicians. Scammers would try to alarm victims by making the situation sound extremely serious before requesting remote access to their computers to supposedly remove the viruses. If users give the scammers remote access, they would pretend to fix their computers while also stealing their files/data and potentially locking the computers with passwords. By the end of this supposed tech support session, scammers would demand hundreds of dollars for the services. Users who refuse to pay would be harassed and even threatened. If the computer was password-locked by scammers, they would refuse to give the password unless users agree to pay.
Gift cards are usually the requested form of payment by scammers. When payments are received in this manner, victims are unable to get their money back or track the scammers. Because tech support scams are very widespread, stores selling gift cards in the US have warnings informing customers of such scams. And because many of the victims are older people, cashiers are often trained to identify potential victims when they buy high-value gift cards. However, scammers have started teaching their victims how to behave and what to say when buying gift cards to avoid raising suspicion.
You can find numerous videos on YouTube of people purposefully engaging with scammers, either for educational purposes or just to waste their time, if you’re curious to see what a tech support scam looks like. Jim Browning, a software engineer, has one of the most popular YouTube channels devoted to educating viewers and taking down tech support scam call centers.
Lastly, it should be mentioned that your browser will never display legitimate virus alerts because it’s not capable of detecting them. No matter how convincing a virus alert may appear, if it pop-ups in your browser, it’s a scam.
An adware infection may trigger redirects to tech-support scams
Adware or the websites users visit are typically what triggers redirects. In most cases, it’s the latter. Certain websites have questionable ads, which is why such sites are typically considered to be high-risk. For example, when browsing sites with pornographic or pirated content, clicking on anything would trigger a redirect. Fortunately, such redirects are easily prevented with a good adblocker program.
On the other hand, if there’s adware installed on your computer, you will frequently experience redirects regardless of the website you visit. Adware and browser hijackers use a deceptive installation technique that doesn’t require explicit users’ permission to install. This method is known as software bundling, and it’s quite controversial. It’s not uncommon for anti-virus programs to detect programs that use this method to install as potential threats.
Free programs that are available for download from third-party sites frequently have extra offers. Adware, browser hijackers, and other similar infections are usually added to free programs as extra offers. The extra offers are added in a way that permits automatic installation without requiring explicit permission from the user. This is why this method is quite controversial. Though technically optional, the offers need to be manually deselected in order to prevent their installation. The offers are initially hidden, however. This prevents many users who rush installations from being able to deselect the offers.
To be able to prevent unwanted installations, you need to use Advanced (Custom) settings instead of Default (Basic) when installing free software. Although the installation window will advise using Default, if you do so, all added offers will be allowed to install. The offers will be made visible in Advanced settings, and you will also have the option to deselect all of them. It’s best to always uncheck all offers because otherwise, your computer would become clogged with useless programs that will only take up space and cause issues. Additionally, unchecking a few boxes is far simpler than having to later uninstall persistent programs.
YOUR APPLE COMPUTER HAS BEEN LOCKED Scam (Mac) removal
You visiting questionable websites without using an adblocker program is the most likely trigger of these redirects. We strongly recommend you install a good adblocker program to block not only the redirects but also pop-ups and regular ads. It’s also a good idea to scan your computer with an anti-virus program in case adware is causing the issue. If it is adware, only removing it would stop the redirects. And getting rid of adware is easiest by using an anti-virus program.
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The article is only meant to be used for educational purposes. If you follow the instructions given in the article, you agree to be contracted by the disclaimer. We do not guarantee that the artcile will present you with a solution that removes the malign threats completely. Malware changes constantly, which is why, in some cases, it may be difficult to clean the computer fully by using only the manual removal instructions.