Well, maybe not.

But that’s just one of the many ploys that scammers send in their relentless efforts to part people from their money or sensitive personal information like passwords and account numbers.

Microsoft is asking people to take a survey of their experience with online fraud—what kinds of scams they’ve encountered (including those on mobile devices and Facebook), how concerned they are about online or phone fraud, and what steps they take to protect themselves.

In 2012, Microsoft fielded its first such study, interviewing 1,000 US residents to understand their exposure to, and perception of, online fraud and scams.

Respondents reported having encountered roughly eight different scams on average, with these as the top four:

• Scams that promise free things or coupons (44 percent)

• Fake antivirus alerts that imitate real programs offering virus repair but that download malware instead (40 percent)

• Phishing scams using fake messages that mimic those of trusted businesses to trick people into revealing personal information (39 percent)

• Fraud that features a request for bank information or money upfront from someone (such as a “foreign prince”) who needs help transferring large sums of money for a cut of the total (39 percent)

In the new survey, we’re interested in how scams and responses to scams might have changed since 2012. Are there different scams? What are the most common? Where are they most often occurring—on mobile devices? On Facebook?

Results of our last survey showed that nearly everyone (97 percent) took steps to safeguard their computers, but more than half (52 percent) did nothing at all to protect their mobile devices. So we’re particularly interested to see if these numbers have changed. 

You can help us fight online scams and fraud by taking our survey.

We will release the results of the survey during National Cyber Security Awareness Month this October. Follow the hashtag #NCSAM to read the story. 

Well, maybe not.

But that’s just one of the many ploys that scammers send in their relentless efforts to part people from their money or sensitive personal information like passwords and account numbers.

Microsoft is asking people to take a survey of their experience with online fraud—what kinds of scams they’ve encountered (including those on mobile devices and Facebook), how concerned they are about online or phone fraud, and what steps they take to protect themselves.

In 2012, Microsoft fielded its first such study, interviewing 1,000 US residents to understand their exposure to, and perception of, online fraud and scams.

Respondents reported having encountered roughly eight different scams on average, with these as the top four:

• Scams that promise free things or coupons (44 percent)
• Fake antivirus alerts that imitate real programs offering virus repair but that download malware instead (40 percent)
• Phishing scams using fake messages that mimic those of trusted businesses to trick people into revealing personal information (39 percent)
• Fraud that features a request for bank information or money upfront from someone (such as a “foreign prince”) who needs help transferring large sums of money for a cut of the total (39 percent)

In the new survey, we’re interested in how scams and responses to scams might have changed since 2012. Are there different scams? What are the most common? Where are they most often occurring—on mobile devices? On Facebook?

Results of our last survey showed that nearly everyone (97 percent) took steps to safeguard their computers, but more than half (52 percent) did nothing at all to protect their mobile devices. So we’re particularly interested to see if these numbers have changed.

You can help us fight online scams and fraud by taking our survey.

We will release the results of the survey during National Cyber Security Awareness Month this October. Follow the hashtag #NCSAM to read the story.

The “MS Removal Tool” or MSRemovalTool is malware. It is not a Microsoft product. This kind of malware is known as “rogue security software” because it imitates a real product. In this case, the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool.

If you’re infected with this malware you might see a MS Removal Tool window when you start your computer and you might not be able to access your desktop. You might not be able to start Task Manager, and you might not be able to open Internet Explorer or any other programs.

The window might look like this:

The warning in your notification area might look like this:

Microsoft security software detects and removes this threat, but if you already have it you might need to boot your computer into Safe Mode in order to remove it.

Learn how to remove the MS Removal Tool

Each fall when kids go “back to school,” parents and caregivers prepare their kids for homework, school programs, sports, even “trick-or-treating.” It’s also important that families have the same preparedness when using technology. We should encourage all children to enjoy the goodies the Internet provides, while helping them avoid the spookier things that can happen online. 

This collection of treats can help your little monsters avoid some of the digital “tricks” that can occur, supporting the notion that being safer online is sweeter for everyone!

Defend their devices & information from online creepers:

• Strengthen your devices’ defenses by installing antivirus and antispyware programs from trusted sources, updating software and apps regularly, leaving your firewall on at all times, and using flash drives cautiously.
• Avoid being tricked into downloading scareware and malware. Be cautious about opening attachments and links, download software from trusted websites, and close pop-ups carefully.
• Safeguard sensitive personal information by saving financial activity for a more secure home network; use GPS features wisely and public Wi-Fi safely, and look for signs that a webpage is secure and legitimate.
• Create strong passwords and phrases, keep them secret, and avoid using the same one on all sites.

Help your goblins learn to use social networks safely:

• Follow the age-usage guidelines set by social networking sites.
• Work with kids to use Settings or Options in online services to manage who can see their profile or tagged photos, how people can search for them and make comments, and how to block people.
• Ask kids to think about who they accept as friends and to reassess periodically.  
• Empower kids to promote a positive image online, and be respectful with the comments and images they post.

Say “boo!” to online bullying:

• Stay curious in kids’ lives online by asking them to show you their interests, what games they play, what they post and with whom they are talking online; lead with your own example; watch for signs of online cruelty, and ask kids to report any type of online drama.
• Encourage empathy. Suggest kids put themselves in another’s shoes. With your support, they can stand up for someone being bullied online.
• Promote compassion in the community by advocating for school trainings and kindness campaigns.

Participate in our #SaferIsSweeter Twitter contest for the chance to win a Surface RT!  Read the official rules for details. 

• Follow us on Twitter and tweet to us the answers to seven daily questions about online safety & security.
  • You may answer each question at any time as long as you answer all of them by the end the day on October 31, 2013.
  • Your tweets entries must include the hashtag #SaferIsSweeter, corresponding question number (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, Q6, or Q7) so it is clear which you are answering, and be relevant to the discussion topic. 

Bob writes:

My antivirus software keeps turning off and I can’t get it back on.

Here are the most common reasons you might encounter this problem:

Your computer is already infected with rogue security software

The warning that you’re antivirus software is turned off might be a fake alert, also known as “rogue security software.” This type of warning is designed to fool you into downloading malicious software or paying for antivirus software. Take our Real vs. Rogue quiz to see if you can identify the difference.”

You have more than one antivirus program

Your antivirus software could turn off if you try to install another antivirus program. Running more than one antivirus program at the same time can cause conflicts and errors that make your antivirus protection less effective or not effective at all.

You might have a virus

Some viruses can disable your antivirus software or disable updates to your antivirus software. Viruses can also prevent you from going online to update or reinstall your antivirus software.

For troubleshooting help, see What to do if your antivirus software stops working.

John writes:

I got an email saying that illegal materials were found on my computer and it would be locked until I paid a fine. Is this a scam?

Yes, this sounds like a common blackmail scam called ransomware. Ransomware is an email, website or pop-up window that displays warnings about possible illegal activities and demands payment before you can access your files and programs again. Delete the email and report it immediately.

Do you think you might have already fallen for a ransomware scam? Find out what to do.

On April Fools’ Day you might have fun being the recipient or the instigator of a harmless prank or two, but it’s good for you to know about online pranks we’ve seen that are far from harmless.

Phone scams. Cybercriminals don’t just email you or post on your social networking site anymore. They call you, pretending to be Microsoft tech support and offering to help you fix your computer. Microsoft will not make unsolicited calls to offer support. For more information, see Avoid tech support phone scams.

Verify your account scam. If you receive an email message that asks you to verify your username and password for your Microsoft account, your Hotmail account, or other account, it’s a scam designed to steal your personal information. The message often includes the threat of immediate account closure. Microsoft will not close your account if you do not provide personal information in an email. For more information, see Avoid scams that use the Microsoft name fraudulently.

Fake security software scams. If you see a pop-up window saying that your computer is infected or unprotected it could be a scam known as “rogue security software” or “scareware.” Rogue security software might report a virus, even though your computer is actually clean. For examples of rogue security software, see our Real vs. Rogue Facebook app.

Learn about how to help protect yourself from other popular scams

From the latest scams and fraud to how, when, and why to update your computer, here are the stories that you viewed and clicked on the most this year.

Download security update for Internet Explorer. In September, Microsoft released a security update for Internet Explorer. To help protect your computer, visit Windows Update to download and install the update and ensure that you have automatic updating turned on.

Update your browser. In February, if you had automatic updating turned on, Windows Update automatically upgraded you to Internet Explorer 9.  Now you can get Internet Explorer 10.

Is my computer up to date? In March, you clicked on this blog entry to learn how to turn on automatic updating and to make sure that your computer had all of the latest updates.

Beware of ransomware. Nearly a year ago, a lot of you stopped by to learn about the resurgence of this scam. It launches a pop-up window warning that illegal material has been found on your computer and then locks you out of your computer unless you pay a fee. It’s still around, and we recently offered new guidance to help you deal with it.

Protect yourself from online tracking. Earlier this year we reported on Tracking Protection, which was a new feature in Internet Explorer 9. Read more about how user privacy protection has evolved and why it is turned on by default in Internet Explorer 10.

Here are five more stories that were popular with you this year:

• Free tool automatically checks and builds up your computer’s defenses
• Beware of tax scams
• Make room for your new PC, laptop, or Xbox
• What does your online image project about you?
• How do I know if I’m running the newest version of Internet Explorer?

From the latest scams and fraud to how, when, and why to update your computer, here are the stories that you viewed and clicked on the most this year.

Download security update for Internet Explorer. In September, Microsoft released a security update for Internet Explorer. To help protect your computer, visit Windows Update to download and install the update and ensure that you have automatic updating turned on.

Update your browser. In February, if you had automatic updating turned on, Windows Update automatically upgraded you to Internet Explorer 9.  Now you can get Internet Explorer 10.

Is my computer up to date? In March, you clicked on this blog entry to learn how to turn on automatic updating and to make sure that your computer had all of the latest updates.

Beware of ransomware. Nearly a year ago, a lot of you stopped by to learn about the resurgence of this scam. It launches a pop-up window warning that illegal material has been found on your computer and then locks you out of your computer unless you pay a fee. It’s still around, and we recently offered new guidance to help you deal with it.

Protect yourself from online tracking. Earlier this year we reported on Tracking Protection, which was a new feature in Internet Explorer 9. Read more about how user privacy protection has evolved and why it is turned on by default in Internet Explorer 10.

Here are five more stories that were popular with you this year:

• Free tool automatically checks and builds up your computer’s defenses
• Beware of tax scams
• Make room for your new PC, laptop, or Xbox
• What does your online image project about you?
• How do I know if I’m running the newest version of Internet Explorer?

Gabby writes:

I just wanted to let you know that I received a phone call this evening from a guy called “Daniel” from “Technical Maintenance of Microsoft Windows.” He said that Microsoft had received error messages from my computer and he asked me to turn my computer on and follow his directions to fix this. I told him that I would sort it out myself and hung up on him.

That sounds like a typical tech support phone scam that cybercriminals use to:

• Trick you into downloading malicious software.
• Take control of your computer remotely and adjust settings to leave your computer vulnerable.
• Request credit card information so they can bill you for phony services.

Gabby did the right thing by hanging up on “Daniel.” For more information, see Avoid tech support phone scams.

Since the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report was released last month, we’ve been discussing some of the findings here, including research on the Conficker worm and the prevalence of rogue security software called scareware.

Here are three Microsoft tools that can help you protect yourself from these threats and others:

• Microsoft Security Essentials offers free real-time protection that combines an anti-virus and anti-spyware scanner with phishing and firewall protection.
• The Microsoft Safety Scanner is a free downloadable security tool that provides on-demand scanning and helps remove malware and other malicious software. The Microsoft Safety Scanner is not a replacement for an up-to-date antivirus solution, because it does not offer real-time protection and cannot prevent a computer from becoming infected.
• SmartScreen Filter, a feature in Internet Explorer 8 and 9, offers protection against phishing sites and sites that host malware. Microsoft maintains a database of phishing and malware sites reported by users of Internet Explorer and other Microsoft products and services. If you attempt to visit a site in the database with the filter enabled, Internet Explorer displays a warning and blocks navigation to the page.

For more information, see a list of free Microsoft products help protect your computer from malware.

Betty writes:

I just received a call from a guy who said that my Windows was infected. He wanted me to sit in front of my computer while he fixed it. He became angry when I told him no and I hung up.

Thanks for writing, Betty. This type of call is a popular scam and you did exactly the right thing. Cybercriminals often use publicly available phone directories to call you and offer tech support. Once they’ve gained your trust, they might ask for your user name and password or ask you to go to a website to install software that will let them access your computer to fix it. If you do this, your computer and your personal information is vulnerable.

Do not trust unsolicited calls. Do not provide any personal information.

• Never provide your credit card or financial information to someone claiming to be from Microsoft tech support.
• Do not purchase any software or services.
• Never give control of your computer to a third party unless you can confirm that it is a legitimate representative of a computer support team with whom you are already a customer.

Get more information on how to avoid tech support phone scams.

If you think you’ve been a victim of a tech support scam

If you think that you might have downloaded malware from a phone tech support scam website or allowed a cybercriminal to access your computer, take these steps:

• Change your computer’s password. Change your Hotmail or other email password if you’ve given it to the caller.
• Scan your computer with the Microsoft Safety Scanner to find out if you have malware installed on your computer. (This program automatically expires 10 days after you download it so it won’t clog your hard drive.)
• Install Microsoft Security Essentials. (Microsoft Security Essentials is a free program. If someone calls you to install this product and then charges you for it, this phone call is also a scam.)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a warning earlier this month that travelers should be careful using Internet connections in hotels. Some travelers had inadvertently downloaded malicious software onto their computers when they accepted fake security updates.

Reportedly, hackers had compromised hotel networks (mainly outside of the United States) so that when travelers tried to log on they would see a pop-up window indicating they needed to update their computer in order to get Internet access. The updates were actually malicious software designed to gain control of your computer and steal your personal information.

We recommend that you turn on automatic updating and visit Microsoft Update before you travel to help ensure that your computer is up to date. You can also increase your safety by connecting to the Internet in hotels through a cable instead of using a wireless connection.

• Read the FBI warning.
• Get more information about rogue security software.
• If you think you might have fallen for this scam, run the Microsoft Safety Scanner.

 “Scareware” is fake anti-virus software (also called “rogue security software”) that cybercriminals trick you into paying for or trick you into downloading along with malicious software. According to the latest Security Intelligence Report from Microsoft, one of the most prevalent forms of scareware is called Win32/FakePAV. Learn how to help prevent Win32/FakePAV from stealing your credit card information.

 Here are some tell-tale signs that could indicate a scareware infection:

• Your computer runs  much slower than usual
• When you try to surf the internet to legitimate anti-virus websites, you can’t get to them
• You see a lot of pop-up windows with false or misleading alerts
• The anti-virus software you recently downloaded is trying to lure you into upgrading to a paid version of the program

Get more information on how to spot fake virus alerts.

If you think you might have already download scareware, you can run the Microsoft Safety Scanner for free. Also, make sure you use legitimate anti-virus software, such as Microsoft Security Essentials, which is also free.

Microsoft was recently interviewed for a local Seattle news story about scareware. Watch the video. 

The Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR) provides information about current security threats to help protect organizations, software, and people. The report covers exploits, vulnerabilities, and malware based on data from over 600 million systems worldwide, Internet services, and three Microsoft Security Centers.

Volume 10 of the report was released today.

The data from the report illustrates a significant increase in social engineering attacks, specifically phishing attempts using social networking as a lure, adware such as pop ups and pop unders, and rogue security software or scareware.

Here is some of the research and analysis included in the report:

• Highest infection rates by location 
• Trends for most commonly detected rogue security software
• How to get rid of malicious software that can steal credit card information

Over the next few months we’ll explore different features of the SIR. Check back with us or read the report now.

If you’re searching for news about or pictures of Osama bin Laden, you might find malware instead. This week the FBI warned computer users to be especially careful of emails that claim to show photos or videos of bin Laden’s death.

Cybercriminals are quick to put up fraudulent websites that people will find when they’re searching for popular news topics. These sites often contain fake security software that tries to trick you into downloading malware by making you think that your security is at risk.

Only click links on websites that you trust. If you’re on a news website and you see a pop-up window that advertises security software, do not click it. Computerworld reports that these risks apply to people who use either the Windows or the Mac operating system.

Here are two free ways to help protect yourself:

• Download and install Internet Explorer 9, which includes the SmartScreen Filter, which will warn you about or block dangerous websites.
• Download and install Microsoft Security Essentials to help protect against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

Last week we told you about how to avoid
fake donation websites and emails if you want to help Japanese earthquake
and tsunami victims.

Eweek
reports that cybercriminals have also started using Japanese earthquake
related search terms to lead people to their malicious websites. These
fraudulent websites show up in search results of people looking for news and
information about the earthquake. If you click on these sites, you might be
infected with software that could steal your personal information or might make
your computer display fake
virus alerts that trick you into paying for a fraudulent product or
service.

Here are two free ways to help protect you against these
fraudulent search results:

• Download
  and install Internet Explorer 9, which includes the SmartScreen Filter to
  help protect you against fraudulent websites.
• Download and install
  Microsoft Security Essentials to help protect against viruses, spyware, and
  other malicious software.