'844-872-8686' Pop-Ups

The '844-872-8686' pop-ups are fake system alerts that spearhead common phishing tactics, such as attempts to collect money or information under illicit circumstances. Malware researchers have noted cases of the '844-872-8686' pop-ups attacking through installed threats, although loading also may occur through hostile websites that may load their exploits automatically. In both instances, you should ignore security recommendations from these threats and use your standard anti-malware software and strategies for eliminating the '844-872-8686' pop-ups.

A Web Hoax by Fraudsters and for Fraudsters

Even con artists who are prone to pirating their personal software are well aware that many professionally-acclaimed products are expensive, particularly including essentials like new releases of operating systems. Some of the most well-designed social engineering tactics even take advantage of this knowledge by accusing computer users of misappropriating difficult-to-afford software. For example, the '844-872-8686' pop-ups are tactics that imply that the reader has been using an invalid or corrupt version of Windows while obfuscating the accusation by using the format of a generic error message.

Although the '844-872-8686' pop-ups deliver their contents in the form of a Windows error code, malware analysts verified that the associated code is unrelated with actual system failures of any type. Traditional delivery mechanisms for the '844-872-8686' pop-ups may use standard HTML pop-up windows with additional exploits that force the window to remain 'in focus,' thereby covering your desktop. Threatening software loading the '844-872-8686' pop-ups also may block other applications, such as the Task Manager, that would be the most obvious solutions for terminating these windows.

Differentiating themselves from real Windows alerts, the '844-872-8686' pop-ups also ask the user to call a technical support number to unlock their operating system. Fraudsters posing as support technicians then may conduct any of the following attacks through these fraudulent circumstances:

• You may be asked to lower your network security or even install remote desktop software, either of which could become backdoors for controlling your PC.
• Third parties may offer software purchases or subscriptions without any follow-up post-purchase, gaining money through recurring charges without delivering any services or products.
• The above financial transactions and related circumstances also may be points of attack for collecting other information from a computer user. Examples of commonly-targeted data may include phone numbers, e-mail addresses and credit card numbers.

The Key to Unlocking an Invalid Key Pop-Up

The '844-872-8686' pop-ups may play on fears of past illicit downloads coming back to haunt their users, but have no correlation with pirated or otherwise corrupted versions of the Windows OS. However, illicit downloads may bundle themselves with other threats that could load the '844-872-8686' pop-ups, including various forms of adware and Trojans. Some of the '844-872-8686' pop-ups infections do correspond with wholesale lockdowns of the affected PC's desktop, including other applications, which makes removing them significantly harder than closing a traditional pop-up advertisement.

Casual PC users never should interact with the '844-872-8686' pop-ups or other pop-up content of a threatening nature. These threats may include additional content that triggers on mouse click events or related activities, even when the only action is an attempt to close them. Whether your '844-872-8686' pop-ups load through software or a website, always restart your computer and switch to Safe Mode (by squeezing F8 until the boot options menu appears). After selecting Safe Mode, scan your PC with your anti-malware utilities and remove any identified threats. Lastly, clear your browser's cache and other temporary files.

While the '844-872-8686' pop-ups are a new spin on an old tactic, malware researchers continue finding these tactics predominantly ineffective for PC users who are aware of basic Windows update protocols, and have browser-based safety features.