Is a tech company calling me or popping up on screen asking for payment to remove a virus from my computer a scam?
Yes. This is a classic tech-support scam — no legitimate company monitors your computer remotely and calls you unsolicited about a virus.
Last reviewed: 1 August 2026
Explanation
Tech-support scams use pop-up warnings, audio alerts, or cold calls to create panic about a supposed virus or security breach. A toll-free number or button is provided to 'contact support'. Once you call or connect, the scammer asks for remote access to 'fix' the problem, then either charges a large fee for unnecessary software, steals financial data visible on your screen, or installs genuine malware. Microsoft, Apple, BT, and all other real tech companies do not monitor individual computers and do not call users about detected viruses. If a pop-up appears, close your browser using Task Manager or Force Quit — do not call any number shown, and do not click anything on the pop-up.
Once connected, the 'technician' manufactures evidence from your own machine: ordinary system logs and routine background processes are presented as infections, netstat output becomes 'hackers connected to your computer', and the performance of the show is calibrated to your reactions. The pricing follows the fear — a cleaning fee, then a 'lifetime protection plan', then in the worst cases banking access 'to process your refund'. That refund call is a signature move: months later, the same operation phones offering to return your money, then 'accidentally' overpays and pressures you to send back the difference.
Remote access is the line that matters most, because everything catastrophic requires it. A stranger who initiated contact — by pop-up or by phone — never gets remote access to your machine under any story; that single rule blocks the tech-support scam in all its variants. If access was already granted, disconnect from the internet, uninstall the remote tools, run a scan with your own security software, change important passwords from a different device, and call your bank if it was open during the session. Where payment was made, dispute it — and treat every future call referencing the incident as the same operation returning.
Common red flags
- Pop-up or phone call claiming your computer is infected and needs immediate action
- Instructions to call a phone number shown on screen
- Request to install remote access software such as AnyDesk or TeamViewer
- Payment demanded by gift card, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency
- Caller ID appears to show Microsoft, Apple, or a known tech company
What to do now
- Close your browser using Task Manager (Windows) or Force Quit (Mac)
- Do not call any number shown in a pop-up
- Do not allow remote access to your computer
- Run a scan using your existing security software if you are concerned
- Report the incident to your national fraud service
Frequently asked questions
What if the pop-up has an official-looking Microsoft logo?
Logos are easily copied in a webpage. Microsoft does not display pop-up warnings or call users about viruses — any alert claiming to be from them and asking you to call a number is fraudulent.
The technician showed me proof of infections on my screen — was it real?
No. They restyle ordinary system logs and routine processes as threats — standard output presented theatrically to a non-expert. Genuine diagnostics do not arrive via strangers who initiated contact with you.
Months later someone called offering a refund for the support fee — genuine?
No — the refund call is the same operation's second act. It typically ends with a staged 'overpayment' you are pressured to return from your real money. Hang up and tell your bank about both incidents.