Five days ago, we reported about a ransomware/tech support scam that relied on a fake Windows activation screen to scare users into calling a special telephone number and having their operating system unlocked.
According to two reports from
Bleeping Computer and
Malwarebytes, there seems to be a resurgence of tech support scams that follows a trend of mimicking Windows activation screens, which is in no way innovative but hasn't been spotted so often in such a short period of time.
Tech support scam locks your screen, prevents access to anything else
The way this tech support scam works is simple. The scam locks the user's computer (a reason infosec experts also categorize it as ransomware) and asks the user to enter a Windows product key or call a tech support number for help.
If the user tries to enter their real Windows product key, the scam won't go away by any means. In fact, entering any text in the product field key will show the standard
Windows 10 settings page, even if the user runs another Windows version.
This is a clear sign that this is a scam if the user hasn't already been alerted to the fact that the activation screen interface features a wonky UI that's not properly aligned, something that Microsoft's UI team would not ever release to the public. EVER!
If you missed all these signs, if you click anywhere on the screen, this malware will read out to infected hosts, "Please activate your Window call to us on 1-888-414-4284."
