'Your Chrome is severely damaged by 13 Malware!' Pop-Up Scam

There are countless dishonest websites that use scare tactics with fake malware alerts to trick users into downloading a promoted product, usually a dubious PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program). The 'Your Chrome is severely damaged by 13 Malware!' pop-up scam shares a lot of the same characteristics. The main difference is that instead of pushing a barely functioning application, the goal of this scheme is to bait visitors into subscribing to its push notification services. 

Once they land on the page, users will be presented with a fake virus alert thinly disguised as a Google Security warning. It claims to have detected 13 malware threats that have damaged the user's Chrome browser. The false alert may even specify that the damage has reached a certain percentage - 'Chrome is 62% damaged,' although we are not sure what that means in practice. The fearmongering continues with the con page now claiming that unless the nonexistent malware threats are removed, they will collect the user's data, including messages, accounts, images and more. Apparently, the first step in fixing this situation is to click the 'Allow error alerts' button and subscribe to the push notifications of the site.

Users who follow the instructions will be subjected to an intrusive advertising campaign. The advertisements may impact the browsing experience on the device significantly. However, more importantly, they could lead to other unsafe or questionable pages. Users may be presented with clickbait offers for PUPs, phishing pages, fake giveaways, 'get-rich-quick' schemes, or other similarly untrustworthy materials. 

To avoid this outcome, users should always keep in mind that no website can perform scans for malware on its own. Furthermore, if you notice that such dubious pages are appearing abnormally often, it may be a good idea to check your computer or device for a PUP that might have already managed to sneak itself in.