Pornography Warning Error is a generic tech-support scam alert that falsely informs users that access to their PC has been blocked. “Pornography-warning-error-code: #0x268d3(x8)” is what this fake security alert shows. Supposedly, your computer has been infected with “pornographic spyware” that’s stealing your sensitive data and files. The pop-up claims that Microsoft has blocked your computer for security reasons. In reality,…
The last edition of cybersecurity news headlines for 2021 reports on three stories. Two of them are related to scams and how scammers make millions of dollars by taking advantage of users. It has been revealed that scammers made $7.7 billion by scamming cryptocurrency investors. And it is estimated that fake giveaways and survey scams make scammers up to $80…
4 Cybersecurity Trends for 2022
The evergrowing threat of ransomware
2021 was an especially brutal year for businesses and organizations because of ransomware. Ransomware is by no means a new threat but it has received a significant amount of attention from governments and law enforcement organizations this year because of a few large-scale attacks. This year saw some of the biggest ransomware…
Over the last couple of years, there has been a significant increase in sextortion scam emails threatening users with non-existent videos of them watching pornography. “I have got two not really pleasant news for you”, “If you want us to be silent, read”, “I am sorry to inform you but your device was hacked”, are just a few examples of…
Tech support scammers falsely claim that there is something wrong with your computer so they can trick you into paying for tech support services you do not actually need. Tech support scams are a huge issue that costs millions of dollars to consumers every year. While not very sophisticated, these scams take advantage of users who know little about computers.…
US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has disclosed that in the first nine months of 2021, $148 million was lost by consumers to gift card scams. Gift card scams are fraudulent activities that ask victims to make payments using gift cards. According to the FTC, nearly 40,000 consumers reported making payments in gift cards. Victims do not realize they are dealing…
“Windows Firewall Alert” scam refers to a fake security alert that claims your computer is infected with a malicious infection that is stealing your data. The whole point of this “Windows Firewall Alert” scam is to trick you into dialing the displayed phone number. You would be connected to fake technical support who would try to scam you out of hundreds…
“Pornographic Spyware Alert Error Code” scam refers to a very typical tech-support scam that tries to trick you into calling fake technical support. The fake alert claims that your computer has been blocked for security reasons and that you need to call the displayed phone number to contact Windows Support. However, if you were to call, you would be connected…
“Norton Security – Your PC is infected with 5 viruses!” is a fake anti-virus alert that tries to trick users into downloading questionable or even malicious programs. It’s a very common scam that falsely claims your computer is infected with viruses. In this particular case, the fake alert informs you that your computer is infected with 5 viruses. These scammers…
“Pornographics Security Warning” is a fake security alert that promotes a tech-support scam. Supposedly, your Windows computer has been blocked because you were browsing questionable websites. In reality, you were simply redirected to a fake Microsoft website that displays a fake alert. The whole point of this tech-support scam is to trick users into calling fake tech-support numbers. Scammers on…