A real security warning does not ask you to call a phone number on the screen. That is the test. Fake tech-support pop-ups are built to scare you into calling, handing over remote control of the computer, and paying with a gift card or a wire. The Federal Trade Commission says the goal is your money, and sometimes your identity.

This guide is for anyone who uses a computer at home, and especially for an older adult and the adult child who helps them. It is also for a parent whose child just yelled that the laptop said it was locked. Steps and warnings were checked against the FTC’s consumer article on September 23, 2026.

Two rules that catch most of these scams

The FTC tells people to remember two things:

1. Legitimate tech companies will not contact you by phone, email, or text to say there is a problem with your computer.
2. Real security pop-up warnings and messages will never ask you to call a phone number.

If a window says your computer is infected and lists a phone number, it is the scam. You do not need to decide whether the logo looks real. Microsoft, Apple, and the FTC do not put a call-now number in a virus warning. The FTC has also said, in a 2025 consumer alert, that security pop-ups from real companies will never ask you to call a phone number.

The same test covers a phone call. A caller who says they are from “the tech department,” Geek Squad, Norton, or Microsoft, and that they found a problem, is not calling because they found a problem. They are calling because you answered. Hang up.

How the pop-up scam usually goes

The FTC describes a pattern, not a single script.

• A full-screen warning appears. It may use a logo you know. It tells you to call a number for help. Sometimes it beeps. Sometimes it will not close on the first click. That is theater. It is still a browser window.
• Other versions start with a call or a text, or with a search ad and a website that looks like tech support. The scammers hope you will call the number they placed there.
• On the phone, they ask for remote access. They pretend to scan the computer, say they found a virus, and offer to remove it for a fee.
• They want payment that is hard to reverse. The FTC lists gift cards, wire transfers, bank transfers, cryptocurrency, and payment apps. Those are a second alarm. A real company can bill a card you already have on file, or you can pay them through a checkout you opened yourself.

A worse version starts the same way and then changes costumes. The FTC says the fake technician may claim your accounts were hacked, or that your name is tied to a serious crime. They transfer you to someone who pretends to be the government, complete with a badge number or a case number. Both are fake. The tell is what they ask next: withdraw money to “protect it,” put it in a “federal safety locker,” or buy gold or hand cash to someone. The FTC is plain about this. A government employee will not tell you to move money to protect it. There is no federal safety locker. A government employee will not demand payment in cash or gold.

The FTC also says scammers impersonate the FTC itself. The FTC will not threaten you, tell you to transfer money to protect it, or tell you to withdraw cash or buy gold. Report that at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

The fake renewal message

Another version is an email or text that says you were charged hundreds of dollars to renew a tech-support subscription. The FTC says these messages use names such as Geek Squad, McAfee, and Norton. The message says you must call within 24 hours to dispute the charge. If you call, they want remote access, then they show a fake website and ask for a bank or card number to “refund” you. They then claim the refund was too large and insist you pay the difference with a gift card, a wire, crypto, or a payment app.

Do not use the phone number in that message. If you think a renewal might be real, look up the company’s number on their own website, or open the card account you actually use and see if the charge is there. The FTC says to report a real unauthorized charge to the card company or bank and ask for it to be reversed. If the charge is not on the account, the message was a scam. Delete it.

What to do when the pop-up is on the screen

1. Do not call the number. Do not click the pop-up’s buttons, including a button that says “close” if it is inside the warning. Those buttons are part of the page.
2. Close the browser. If the window will not go away, force-quit the browser, or restart the computer. You are closing a web page, not “unlocking” a seized computer.
3. Do not give anyone remote access because of that window. Remote access is how they move files and watch you type a password.
4. If you are worried the computer really has a problem, update the security software that came with the computer, or the security software you installed yourself from the company’s own site, and run a scan. The FTC recommends that. If you still want a person to look at it, use a store you already know, or a phone number you looked up yourself.
5. Tell someone before you pay anyone. The FTC says talking to a friend, a family member, or a neighbor is one of the ways people realize it is a scam. Agree on this in advance with an older parent: we do not call numbers that appear in warnings. We call each other first.

A child who sees this on a homework laptop should close the laptop and get an adult. They should not call the number, and they should not type a parent’s card “so the computer will work for school.” Tell them that ahead of time, the same way you tell them not to open the door to a stranger.

If money or a password already changed hands

The FTC’s advice if you gave a username and password: change that password now. If you reused it, change it on those other accounts too. Make the new one long and different. A password manager is a reasonable next step for the household, so the next reset is not the same word with a new number.

If you paid, contact the card company or bank if a card was involved. Gift cards, wires, crypto, and payment-app transfers are harder. Report the scam anyway. The FTC uses reports to build cases. File it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

If someone is still on the phone, hang up. If they have remote access, disconnect the computer from Wi-Fi and restart it. Then change the email password from a different device, because email is how they reset everything else.

What to skip

• Do not search “tech support phone number” and call the first result. The FTC says scammers buy those ads and those search listings.
• Do not keep them on the line while you “check with your bank.” Hang up. Call the number on the back of your card.
• Do not install a cleanup tool they name. That tool is part of the pitch.
• Do not be embarrassed into silence. These scripts are written to scare careful people. Reporting helps the next person.

Checklist

• Everyone in the house knows: a pop-up with a phone number is a scam.
• An older parent has one person they will call before they call any number on a screen.
• A child knows to close the laptop and get an adult, not to read a card number aloud.
• Remote-access requests from unexpected callers are a no.
• Gift cards, gold, and “move your money to protect it” are a no, including when the caller claims to be the government or the FTC.
• Renewal texts get checked against the real card statement, not against the number in the text.
• ReportFraud.ftc.gov is bookmarked, or written on a card by the computer.

What this means for you

A parent should put the pop-up rule next to the other house rules: no calls from warnings, no card numbers to people who call you, no remote access for a stranger. The same week, set the device controls in Screen Time or Family Link so a child cannot install a random “cleaner” app.

An adult child should practice this once with a parent, on a calm day. Open a normal browser, point at the address bar, and say the warning will try to look official. Agree on the callback: “If a window tells you to call, you call me, and you do not call them.” Leave your number on a card taped to the monitor. A taped card beats a contact buried in a phone they cannot unlock while they are scared.

If the computer really is slow, that is not proof the pop-up was right. Slow computers are common. The pop-up is still a lie. Get help from a person you already know.

FAQ

The pop-up will not close. Is my computer locked by the police?

No. The FTC describes these windows as scare tactics. Close the browser or restart the computer. Police and federal agencies do not seize a home computer with a browser pop-up and a phone number.

They already have remote access. What now?

Disconnect from the internet and restart. Change your email password from a different device. Change any password you typed while they could see the screen. Call your bank on the number printed on your card if you moved money. Report it to the FTC.

The caller knew my name. Does that make it real?

No. Names leak in data breaches and get sold. The test is still the request: a surprise computer problem, a phone number on a warning, remote access, gift cards, or moving money to “protect” it.

Should I pay to keep them from reporting me for a crime?

No. The FTC says a person who pretends to be the government and demands cash, gold, or a transfer is a scammer. Hang up and report it.

Sources

• Federal Trade Commission, “How To Spot, Avoid, and Report Tech Support Scams,” consumer.ftc.gov tech support scams, accessed September 23, 2026.
• Federal Trade Commission, “Seemingly urgent security messages could lead to tech support scams,” April 14, 2025, consumer.ftc.gov consumer alert, accessed September 23, 2026.

Photo: older adults using a tablet, by Sigismund von Dobschütz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

This is not legal or financial advice. If you lost money, contact your bank or card issuer and report the scam to the FTC. Do not use a phone number that came from the scammer.

Update this guide if the FTC changes the payment methods it highlights, or if ReportFraud.ftc.gov moves.