The Red Screen of Death

 
Lately, I’ve been encountering this pop-up when browsing the Internet. Since it’s bloody red and occupies the whole screen, it’s hard to ignore demanding my undivided attention.

It says Google Chrome Critical ERROR! and reports that there has been an unauthorized attempt to access my computer and steal my logins and bank account information. It recommends that I contact Microsoft Support at once.

It doesn’t take me long to figure out that it’s one of those scams. In the first place, Microsoft will never send a message like this especially when it contains grammatical errors. In addition, the toll-free number provided is an invalid Microsoft support number.

Anybody who dares call the number is confronted by an individual with a thick South Asian accent. He’ll confirm that your computer is indeed compromised and infected by malware. He’ll say he can fix it for a fee and then ask permission to remotely access your computer. At this point, I’d advise it’s time to hang up the phone.

When confronted by the Red Screen of Death, the following solution helps me get out of it:

1. Press the CTRL-ALT-Del keys and then click Task Manager.

 
2. From Task Manager, use the mouse to point and right click on Google Chrome and choose end task.

 
3. Restart Google Chrome and select “Open startup pages” to the “Restore pages?” prompt.

Afterwards, I run Norton Security to check for viruses and malwares. So far, it hasn’t found any.

I’m not sure if it will work for you if you find yourself in the same situation, but you can try at your own risk.