Phony “tech support” / “ransomware” popups and web pages removal – Windows PC

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These Tech Support pop-ups are caused by an ad-supported extension for Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome, which is distributed through various platforms during installation. The malicious browser extensions is typically added when you install another free software (video recording/streaming, download-managers or PDF creators) that had bundled into their installation this adware program.
When an adware extension is installed on your computer, whenever you will open a new tab within Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome, an ad from Tech Support Scam will pop-up.
The Tech Support pages are usually malicious websites which is used by cyber criminals to promote their remote support services. The Tech Support Scam bogus pop-up ad will state that you computer is infected and that you need to call their paid support service to remove the infection. This is a bogus claim, and an attempt to make you pay $199 for their malware removal “services”. The pop-up will have the following alert:

You might be infected with adware / spyware virus
Call 1-866-928-0684 immediately. Fast assistance with removing viruses.
(Toll-FREE, High Priority Call Line)
What you must do:
More about the virus:
Seeing these pop-up’s means that you may have a virus installed on your computer which puts the security of your personal data at a serious risk. It’s strongly advised that you call the number above and get your computer fixed before you continue using your internet, especially for shopping.

Possible Privacy Breach if virus not removed immediately:
Data exposed to risk:
1. Your credit card details and banking information
2. Your e-mail passwords and other account passwords
3. Your Facebook, Skype, AIM, ICQ and other chat logs
4. Your private photos, family photos and other sensitive files
5. Your webcam could be accessed remotely by stalkers with a VPN virus

Remove Tech Support Scam pop-up ads from Windows PC

• Open Task Manager by right-clicking the taskbar, and then clicking Start Task Manager. Alternatively to start the Windows Task Mager, you can press Ctrl+Alt+Del and click on Task Manager or simply press on Ctrl+Shift+Esc.
• Scroll through the list till you see your web browser’s process and left-click on it once so it becomes highlighted. Once you have selected the browser’s process, click on the End Task button as show in the picture below.
• Your browser window should now be closed. The next time you open your browser, do not allow the browser to open the last opened page. Alternatively, if you are using Microsoft Edge or any other browser, you can disconnect your Internet, then open the web browser, navigate from the malicious web page, then reconnect to the Internet.

Remove Tech Support Scam – Call for Support pop-up ads from Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome

You can reset Internet Explorer settings to return them to the state they were in when Internet Explorer was first installed on your PC.

1.Open Internet Explorer, click on the “gear icon”  in the upper right part of your browser, then click again on Internet Options.

2. In the “Internet Options” dialog box, click on the “Advanced” tab, then click on the “Reset” button.

3. In the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” section, select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click on “Reset” button.

4. When Internet Explorer has completed its task, click on the “Close” button in the confirmation dialogue box. You will now  need to close your browser, and then you can open Internet Explorer again.

If you’re having problems with Firefox, resetting it can help. The reset feature fixes many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information like bookmarks, passwords, web form auto-fill information, browsing history and open tabs.

In the upper-right corner of the Firefox window, click the Firefox menu button (), then click on the “Help” () button.

From the Help menu, choose Troubleshooting Information.
If you’re unable to access the Help menu, type about:support in your address bar to bring up the Troubleshooting information page.

Click the “Refresh Firefox” button in the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page.

To continue, click on the “Refresh Firefox” button in the new confirmation window that opens.

Firefox will close itself and will revert to its default settings. When it’s done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click on the “Finish“

Note: Your old Firefox profile will be placed on your desktop in a folder named “Old Firefox Data“. If the reset didn’t fix your problem you can restore some of the information not saved by copying files to the new profile that was created. If you don’t need this folder any longer, you should delete it as it contains sensitive information.

The Chrome Cleanup Tool application will scan and remove software that may cause problems with Chrome, such as crashes, unusual startup pages or toolbars, unexpected ads you can’t get rid of, or otherwise changing your browsing experience.

 

• You can download Chrome Cleanup Tool from the below link.
  CHROME CLEANUP TOOL DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open a new web page from where you can download “Chrome Cleanup Tool”)
• When Chrome Cleanup Tool has finished downloading, start this program by double-clicking on the chrome_cleanup_tool icon as seen below.
  
• Chrome Cleanup Tool will now scan Google Chrome for adware and browser hijackers. The scan should take less than 1 minute, and will report whether it found any malicious programs or not. If any malicious programs were detected, click on the “Remove suspicious programs” button and wait for the tool to tell you it has completed the process.

• If Chrome Cleanup Tool has not detected anything suspicious, then you can click on the “Continue” button and move to the next step.

• Next, a new tab in Google Chrome will open, prompting you to reset Chrome to default settings. We recommend that you perform this reset as usually this will remove any browser hijackers that might affect your browser.