[Solved] Is this a hoax?

[rhinosfl]

I'm strongly inclined to think I'm the victim of a hoax but I want to ask the experts here first to be sure. Also, I would appreciate some guidance on how to get this browser window to go away short of uninstalling Firefox (assuming even that would do it) and some insight into how I might have acquired this problem so that I can avoid it in the future.

I was minding my own business doing some browsing in Firefox an hour or so ago when I suddenly had a new browser window open. It started flashing messages at me - it also had an English voiceover - warning me that my computer was compromised. I did a screen cap and got what you see in the attached image.

I assume this is one of these situations where something *claims* that my computer is infested, then, when you call the toll free number, they extort you for some ridiculous amount of money to clean it up. Whether there is actually a problem or not is doubtful.

I've run Avast Smart Scan and it found nothing in terms of viruses. I updated Malware Bytes and it found only a couple of PUPs, which I removed. Am I safe in assuming my machine is clean? If not, please tell me what I need to do to be sure. I'd also like to close the Firefox window that keeps trying to extort me.

[Pondus]

I did a screen cap and got what you see in the attached image.

There is no screenshot attached ....

anyway most likely you entered a site with a fake / scam message

[rhinosfl]

Sorry about the lack of a screen cap. I clicked Post and then realized I hadn't added the screen cap. Then, I looked and couldn't see a way to add a screen cap and figured that an antivirus forum may not *accept* attachments since they could presumably be a way (inadvertent or deliberate) for someone to introduce malware.

Now that I'm replying to you, I see the "Attachments and other options" area; I managed to miss that earlier. I'm attaching my screen cap now....

[Pondus]

You may have some crap that make this popup, so if you want a check



follow instructions here  https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=53253.0
we need Malwarebytes and Farbar Recovery Scan Tool logs, attach the logs, 3 logs total

see below the box you write in ... Attachments and other options


When done a expert will check logs and assist you

[rhinosfl]

I'm attaching the Malwarebytes, FRST and aswmbr logs....

[essexboy]

Nothing apparent could you confirm that this was just on one site and is no longer happening

[rhinosfl]

I still have the window that I showed in the screen capture and I can't close it, even by killing Firefox in Task Manager. 

I'm not sure where that window originated. I was looking at a TV website I visit daily and it just popped up unexpectedly. I can still use Firefox normally; I just can't close this frigging window.

Sorry for the delay in responding; I was monitoring my inbox for a notification and never saw one, even though I got notifications for previous posts on my thread. I just happened to check it now before I went to bed and found your reply.

So is this problem likely to be solved with a simply Windows reboot? Or do I need to run additional scans to be sure nothing is amiss?

[Pondus]

So is this problem likely to be solved with a simply Windows reboot?

That is the first thing i would try

[rhinosfl]

I rebooted. After having done so, I have *two* of those windows. Much to my surprise, one of them will close simply by clicking on the close button in the upper right corner. The other one will not close. If I close and reopen Firefox, they BOTH recite their warning about my data being compromised and tell me to call the toll-free number; luckily, the spoken instructions only run once or I'd probably lose my mind.

One other thing, since this thing got onto my computer, my audio has been distorted momentarily from time to time. Even the audio file from this virus/hoax is distorted in part as is the audio in every video clip I play. I don't know if that is useful or even relevant but it started at the same time so it seems reasonable to assume they might be related.

[essexboy]

Is this in Firefox only ?

[rhinosfl]

Yes. I'm running Edge and Chrome as well but they aren't giving me any trouble.

Am I going to need to uninstall/reinstall Firefox? Or just abandon Firefox altogether?

[Lotan]

you could try running firefox in safe mode and see if you still get the popups. try to rule out a bad/infected addon

[rhinosfl]

Safe mode didn't help. In fact, none of the first five things on this page - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-and-diagnose-firefox-problems - helped. The sixth suggestion, refresh Firefox, didn't help the first time I tried it either: I immediately got this nuisance alert again. But when I tried the *second* option of the Refresh, starting only selected windows and tabs, I was able to unselect the nuisance window and the problem was solved.

I still don't know how this thing got on my computer so I'm not sure how to avoid it the next time. Am I safe in assuming that it was ONLY a window that was trying to trick me into having strangers get onto my computer - probably for a hefty fee - to "fix" something that wasn't really broken? (Yes, the computer was broken in the sense of having this nuisance window but that's all that was broken, right?)

Or do I need to do more to be sure my machine is clean?

[Lotan]

chances are if you called that number and gone through with it you would have been charged alot of money to "fix it", they would gain access to your pc and make it worse (install more malware, etc) and more than likely steal information too.
as to how you got it, i havnt got the slightest idea. It could have been something you download/installed or a virus from an infected website.

[rhinosfl]

chances are if you called that number and gone through with it you would have been charged alot of money to "fix it", they would gain access to your pc and make it worse (install more malware, etc) and more than likely steal information too.

I was afraid I might be getting too cynical in my old age but maybe I'm just getting wiser ;-)

as to how you got it, i havnt got the slightest idea. It could have been something you download/installed or a virus from an infected website.

That's a drag. I wanted to learn from this so I could avoid a similar problem in the future....

Oh well. At least the problem appears to be resolved with no harm done beyond annoyance and wasted time.

Thank you very much to everyone who replied for your help!

[I don't see any way to mark this problem "solved" otherwise I would do it....]