Microsoft and Apple Tech-Support Pop-Up Scams: What To Do

You are reading a news article, or watching a YouTube video, and suddenly your screen fills with a red warning. "Your computer has been infected with a virus. Microsoft has locked your system. Call this number immediately: 1-888-..." A siren may blare from your speakers. A woman's voice may start speaking. The mouse feels frozen.

Take a deep breath. Your computer is almost certainly fine, and Microsoft — or Apple, if you are on a Mac — has not locked anything. What you are looking at is a web page, designed to look like a system alert, and the only real problem is that it is on your screen.

This is one of the oldest scams on the internet, and it still works. The FTC reported more than $924 million in tech-support scam losses in 2024, with adults over 60 losing the largest share by far. Let us walk through exactly what is happening, how to close it safely, and — most importantly — what never to do.

The one rule that ends 99% of these scams

Microsoft and Apple never show you a phone number in a pop-up. Ever. Not in a browser, not on your desktop, not in a system alert. If a phone number appears on your screen claiming to be from Microsoft or Apple, it is a scam.

Real Microsoft and Apple support are reached only through channels you initiate — by typing support.microsoft.com or support.apple.com into your browser, or by opening the Support app on your Mac or Windows PC. They do not reach out to you with urgent warnings.

This rule alone, memorised and passed on to family, prevents the vast majority of losses. The rest of this guide is belt and braces.

What the pop-up is actually doing

The pop-up is just a web page. It may:

Show a fake "system scan" animation listing viruses.
Play an alarm sound or a recorded voice through your speakers.
Go full-screen so you cannot see the rest of your browser.
Flash a countdown warning you will "lose all data" in 60 seconds.
Show a Windows Defender or Apple Support logo (stolen from the real site).
Display a toll-free phone number in large red text.

None of it is real. There is no scan. There is no virus that the page has detected. Your operating system has not been contacted. It is simply a web page using JavaScript tricks to make your browser feel "stuck."

The scammer's goal is for you to pick up the phone and call that number. If you do, a person with a confident, professional voice will claim to be from Microsoft or Apple support. They will ask you to install a "diagnostic tool" — which is actually remote-access software (AnyDesk, TeamViewer, or similar). Once installed, they can see your screen, control your mouse, and open your files. From there, they will either install real malware, trick you into opening your bank app, or demand payment in gift cards for a "cleanup service." Losses commonly run between $500 and $10,000.

The correct way to close the pop-up (step by step)

Do not click any button inside the pop-up — not "OK," not "Cancel," not the little X in the corner. Some pop-ups are designed so that every button triggers a new pop-up or a download.

On Windows

Press Ctrl + W to close the current browser tab. If that works, you are done.
If Ctrl + W does not work, press Alt + F4 to close the whole browser window.
If the browser refuses to close, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager. Find your browser in the list (Chrome, Edge, Firefox), click it, and click End task at the bottom right.
Reopen your browser. If it asks "Restore previous tabs?" — say No. Otherwise the pop-up comes straight back.

On Mac

Press Cmd + W to close the current tab.
If that does not work, press Cmd + Q to quit the browser.
If the browser is unresponsive, press Cmd + Option + Esc to open Force Quit, select your browser, and click Force Quit.
Reopen the browser. If Safari asks to reopen the last tabs, say No.

On an iPad or iPhone

Close the browser from the App Switcher (swipe up from the bottom and flick the browser card up).
Reopen Safari or Chrome — usually the pop-up is gone.

Clear your browser cache afterwards

The pop-up's web page may have left traces that can re-trigger it. Take two minutes to clear things.

Chrome/Edge: Three-dot menu → Settings → Privacy and security → Clear browsing data → pick "Last hour" → tick Cached images and files and Cookies → Clear data.

Safari: Safari menu → Clear History → pick "Last hour" → Clear History.

Firefox: Three-line menu → History → Clear recent history → pick "Last hour" → tick Cookies and Cache → OK.

Then restart the browser one more time.

Run a proper malware check (just to be sure)

If you only saw the pop-up and closed it without clicking or calling, your computer is almost certainly not infected. But it costs nothing to confirm.

On Windows: Press the Windows key, type "Windows Security," open it, click Virus and threat protection → Quick scan. Built into Windows, free, and reliable. For a second opinion, download Malwarebytes Free from malwarebytes.com and run a scan. Ignore any other "free antivirus" the internet suggests — Malwarebytes is the industry-standard clean-up tool.

On Mac: macOS has built-in malware protection that runs automatically. For peace of mind, download Malwarebytes for Mac from the same site — the free version is sufficient.

If either scan finds something, let the tool remove it. Then restart.

What to do if you already called the number

Breathe. You are not the first, and you will not be the last. Many thousands of smart, educated people have made this exact call this year alone. The important thing is to move quickly.

If you did not give them remote access, any payment, or any bank details: Hang up. Do nothing else. You are fine.

If you installed anything they told you to:

Unplug your internet cable or turn off Wi-Fi immediately. This cuts their connection.
Uninstall the remote-access program they had you install (AnyDesk, TeamViewer, LogMeIn, etc.) from Control Panel → Programs (Windows) or by dragging from Applications to Trash (Mac).
Run Malwarebytes to clean up anything they may have left behind.
Change your passwords — email, bank, Apple ID or Microsoft account — from a different device (your phone, a tablet, a family member's computer), not the infected one.

If you gave them any payment or bank details:

Call your bank fraud department immediately — the number on the back of your card.
File a report at reportfraud.ftc.gov (US), actionfraud.police.uk (UK), or scamwatch.gov.au (Australia).
If you paid in gift cards, call the gift card company (the number is on the back of the card) — sometimes, if the balance has not been spent yet, they can freeze it.

You can also file at the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center: ic3.gov.

One setting that prevents the pop-up from ever returning

In Chrome, Edge and Firefox, turn on pop-up blocking.

Chrome/Edge: Settings → Privacy and security → Site Settings → Pop-ups and redirects → set to "Don't allow sites to send pop-ups."

Safari: Safari menu → Settings → Websites → Pop-up Windows → set to "Block and Notify."

Firefox: Settings → Privacy and Security → scroll to Permissions → tick "Block pop-up windows."

This will not stop every scam, because many of these pages do not use traditional pop-ups — they just take over the full window. But it reduces the surface area meaningfully.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will Microsoft ever call me about a virus?

No. Microsoft never makes unsolicited calls about viruses, errors or infected computers. If your phone rings and the caller claims to be from Microsoft, hang up. This is confirmed on Microsoft's official support page as of April 2026.

Will Apple ever show a phone number in a pop-up?

No. Apple provides support only through applecare.apple.com, the Apple Support app, or an Apple Store Genius Bar appointment that you book. A phone number displayed in a browser warning is always a scam.

My mouse was frozen — does that mean I have a virus?

Not necessarily. Many scam pages use a trick called a "browser lock" that makes the browser feel unresponsive, but the rest of your computer is fine. Pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc (Windows) or Cmd+Option+Esc (Mac) will always work, because those are system-level shortcuts the browser cannot block.

Should I buy an "antivirus subscription" the caller offered?

Absolutely not. Legitimate antivirus software is bought from trusted vendors (Microsoft Defender is free and built-in; Malwarebytes Premium is widely respected) — never from someone who called you. Any "antivirus" sold over a tech-support call is either fake or malware.

What if the pop-up keeps coming back every time I open the browser?

Your browser is restoring the last session. Close it, reopen it, and when asked "Restore previous tabs," say No. Also go to your browser's homepage setting and confirm it has not been changed to a malicious site.

Keep reading

External resources:

Microsoft's official tech-support scam page: microsoft.com/en-us/security/online-privacy/avoid-tech-support-scams
Apple's guidance: support.apple.com/en-us/102568
FTC tech-support scam alerts: consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-spot-avoid-and-report-tech-support-scams

✅ Reviewed by Eleanor Shaw — techfor60s editorial desk, last verified 2026-04-18.