Beware of Phishing Scams: A Personal Encounter with Ransomware

Recently, my wife encountered a troubling situation with her computer that serves as a reminder of the risks we face in our digital lives. She received a dire alert stating, “Your computer has been locked up,” along with a prompt to call the number 833-324-0303. Concerned and curious, she dialed the number and was met by someone claiming to be from Microsoft.

Instinctively, I advised her to restart her computer, as I had encountered similar warnings on my Windows machines in the past. Each time, a simple restart had been sufficient to resolve the issue.

During her conversation with the individual on the line, my wife inquired about their official website. The response was quite alarming: “This is the way we do it—having a site doesn’t help.” This dubious statement raised red flags, reinforcing that this was not a legitimate call.

Fortunately, after she restarted her Apple computer, the warning disappeared without a trace. In my experience, I’ve dealt with similar threats on my Windows systems approximately once every couple of years, and like clockwork, a hard reboot has typically resolved the matter.

Have any of you experienced something similar? What steps do you take to safeguard your devices from such phishing scams? Your insights would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for reading!