Lately I have had a few customers tell me that a warning popped up on their screen telling them that their Mac was infected with a virus or that their files were locked or their firewall was breached. It then gave a phone number to call.
This is a SCAM!
They will give you a phone number to call, sometimes trying to make you believe that you are calling Apple and then proceed to tell you that you need to pay them some money to unlock your files and buy “protection”. Apple will never pop up a window to ask you to call. If you get that kind of pop-up it is a scam and if you do give them your login name and password you DO run the risk of malicious software being installed on your Mac.
Do not give out your login name and password to anyone calling on the phone unless you are sure you know who you are talking to. When in doubt, give Apple a call at 1-800-275-2273. Do not call iYogi who has purchased the Google position on “Apple Technical Support Number” but call Small Dog or Apple directly.
If you need help removing this type of malware, or just want a checkup to ensure that you have not been hacked, our Apple Certified Consultants can help! They can even log into your machine remotely to perform this clean up. Please email our Consulting Department at consulting@smalldog.com to request this service or find out more.
I would also like to hear about your experiences with RansomWare and we will do a follow-up in a future issue.