What is “Pornographics Security Warning” scam?

“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 the other end of the line request remote access to users’ computers, push questionable software, and demand hundreds of dollars in payments for their “services”.

 

 

“Pornographics Security Warning” is a classic tech-support scam that tries to trick users into calling fake tech support. The way this scam works is you get redirected to a fake Windows website where a notification pops up about a supposed malware issue detected by your Windows Defender. According to the alert, your Windows has been blocked because of questionable activity. The alert proceeds to claim that you need to call tech-support using the provided number so that “engineers can guide you through the removal process by phone”. The scan also tries to pressure you by saying you need to call within the next 5 minutes to “avoid a complete malfunction of your computer”. The supposed threat detected on your computer is known as “Pornographics Spyware”.

It goes without saying that the alert is nothing more than a scam. There is no malware on your computer, nor do you need to call anyone. If you were to call the displayed number, you would be connected to professional scammers who will claim to be technical support. They will try to scare you into thinking that your computer is infected with a serious malware infection. They will also offer to fix the issue for you if you give them remote access to your computer. If they get access, they will pretend to fix the problem while stealing files. They will also try to convince you to install a supposed anti-malware program. Finally, once they’re done pretending to remove the malware, they will demand that you pay hundreds of dollars for the supposed repair services you received. In some cases, scammers remotely lock the computer in order to force victims to pay the money.

Windows Defender does not show virus alerts in your browser. If it were to detect something on your device, it would show a system alert and open the program for you to check what has been detected. Your browser will never show legitimate virus alerts because it simply cannot detect them. Furthermore, Windows will never make unsolicited contact nor ask you to call anyone just because a virus was found on your computer. Thus, every single virus alert in your browser will be a scam. At least as long as you don’t interact with them, the alerts are harmless.

We recommend checking your computer for adware in case that’s why you’re redirected. The easiest way to do that is to scan your computer with anti-virus software like WiperSoft. If there is an infection, the anti-virus program would delete “Pornographics Security Warning” adware, thus stopping the redirects. It’s also a good idea to install an adblocker program.

Why did you get redirected to a tech-support scam?

In most cases, when users get redirected to questionable websites, it’s because they browse high-risk websites. Certain websites are considered to be high-risk because of the ads they host. An example of such a site would most pornographic and pirated content websites. They are often poorly regulated, and interacting with any content on such sites often leads to questionable redirects. To avoid these redirects and other intrusive advertisements, it’s a good idea to have an adblocker program installed.

In rarer cases, users are redirected because adware is installed on their computers. Adware is a pretty minor infection that mainly focuses on exposing users to advertisement content. While such infections do not directly harm the computer, they can expose users to various scams. For example, the “Pornographics Security Warning” tech-support scam. The easiest way to check whether it’s adware is to scan the computer with anti-virus software. If your computer is indeed infected with adware, you need to be more careful when installing free programs. Infections like adware, browser hijackers, and potentially unwanted programs install via the software bundling method. That essentially means that such infections come added to free software as extra offers and can install alongside without requiring any additional permission. These offers are technically optional but they need to be manually deselected. Otherwise, they install alongside the program automatically.

Correctly installing free software would prevent all unwanted installations. To correctly install a free program, you need to use Advanced or Custom settings instead of Default. The installation window will recommend using Default settings but that is not a good idea. Those settings will hide all added offers and allow them to install. Advanced settings, on the other hand, will make all offers visible and you will have the option to deselect all of them. And deselecting all of them is what you need to do. Software bundling is a questionable installation method and programs that use it should not be permitted to install onto your computer. If you allow these offers to install, your computer will fill up with junk programs in no time. And they can be difficult to get rid of once installed. It’s much easier to just uncheck a couple of boxes when installing freeware.

“Pornographics Security Warning” scam removal

The most likely reason why you were redirected to this fake tech-support website is that you visited high-risk websites. If that is the case, you do not need to do anything besides install an adblocker program to block these redirects and intrusive advertisements. It may also be a good idea to change your browsing habits to avoid visiting sites that could compromise your security.

Even though it’s unlikely that there’s an actual infection on your computer, we still recommend scanning your computer with anti-virus software like WiperSoft. It’s not impossible that you’re dealing with adware, and the easiest way to check is with anti-virus software.