Is this call or pop-up about a problem with my computer a scam?

This category has two openings. One is a cold call: someone says they are from Microsoft, from your broadband provider, or from "the technical department", and that your computer is sending out errors. The other is a browser page that fills the screen, plays an alarm sound and shows a support number. Both end in the same place: remote-access software, then your bank.

Safety

Step by step

1. Understand why the premise is impossible.Nobody outside your home can see the state of your computer. Microsoft, Apple, your broadband provider and your bank do not monitor your machine and do not make unsolicited calls about it. The claim itself is the proof.
2. Hang up, without arguing.Do not engage, do not explain, do not try to waste their time. Simply end the call. Anything else keeps you in a scripted conversation designed by people who have had it thousands of times.
3. Treat a full-screen warning as a web page, not a system message.Real security warnings never give you a phone number to ring. Press Escape to leave full screen, then close the tab. If the tab will not close, force-quit the browser from Task Manager on Windows or Force Quit on a Mac, then reopen it and decline to restore the previous session.
4. Never install remote-access software for an incoming contact.The tools themselves are legitimate and are used by genuine IT support you have called. The rule is about direction: never for someone who contacted you.
5. Recognise the refund variant.Months later, someone rings saying the company is closing and owes you a refund. They take remote control, show you a bank screen apparently overpaid by thousands, and ask you to send the difference back. The screen is edited in your own browser; no money ever arrived. Any "you have been overpaid, please return the difference" request is fraud.
6. If you gave access, work in the right order.Disconnect the machine from the internet, ring your bank from a different device, then change email and banking passwords from a different device, then deal with the computer.
7. Report it.Action Fraud in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or Police Scotland on 101 in Scotland. Report a scam website to the National Cyber Security Centre.

Tips

• Genuine antivirus alerts appear inside the antivirus program in the corner of the screen and offer a button, not a phone number.
• A number found by searching "[company] support phone number" is not safe either — paid ads and manipulated results place fake support numbers at the top. Get support numbers from the company's own site, reached by typing the address.
• If an older relative has had one of these calls, check the computer for remote-access software still installed, and check their bank statements going back several months.

Common mistakes

• Staying on the line to find out what they want — The script is designed to work on people who stay on the line. Curiosity is the first thing it exploits.
• Paying for a "support subscription" to make it stop — It buys nothing, and it puts you on a list of people who paid, which is sold on and produces more calls.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask