Years ago, before “pop-up blockers” were standard parts of web browser software, there existed a fantastic* scam. To foster more advertising revenue,browsers allowed certain websites to toss little boxes up on your screen, over the top of everything else you were watching. So,someone figured out that virus protection software like McAfee and Norton did the same thing when they detected a virus.
Scammers modified the web “pop-ups”to look like anti-virus ones. The catch, if you clicked on the“pop-up” you authorised your browser to infect your PC… and because you authorised it, your actual anti-virus software could do nothing about it.
“Pop-up blockers” now prevent that from happening (for the most part), but it hasn’t stopped advertisements on webpages from doing (basically) the same thing. Messages include, “Your PC is Infected,” “x Infections Detected: Click Here To Clean,” and my personal favourite, “Your PC Is Running Slow: Click Here To Fix.”
The headline above says it all…neither your browser nor any website can detect the state of your PC.If you see it, it’s a scam… so avoid it.