'Windows Defender Security Notification' POP-UP Scam

Deceptive websites have been observed running an online tactic that tries to lure its victims into calling a provided phone number controlled by con artists. The 'Windows Defender Security Notification' POP-UP scam exhibits the typical characteristics associated with technical support schemes. It shows users various, fabricated security alerts claiming that their computers or devices have been infected by malware threats.

The 'Windows Defender Security Notification' POP-UP scam's fake messages are presented as if coming from Microsoft. More precisely, users will be shown pop-ups containing fabricated warnings masquerading as Windows Defender Security notifications. Apparently, the fraudsters have not even bothered to change the name of the anti-virus component of the Windows OS, as it has been renamed to Microsoft Defender. In addition, the tactic may even try to convince victims that access to their PC systems has been blocked and the only way to fix the issues is to call the provided phone number.

Instead of technical support specialists, users would be calling a phone operator working for the fraudsters. This could expose them to various security and privacy risks. Con artists often exploit social engineering tactics to extract private or confidential information from their victims. They also ask for the victims to provide remote access to the supposedly infected device. If such a remote connection is established, these people could abuse it to drop threatening payloads on the device, including backdoors, RATs, ransomware, spyware and other malware threats.