Tech Tips & Scam Alerts

⚠ Scam Alert

The Microsoft Pop-Up Scam: Don’t Call That Number

April 2025 — Barry, Trusted Tech at Home

You’re browsing the web when a warning fills your screen. It says your computer is infected, your files are at risk, and you need to call a number immediately to fix it. The message looks like it came from Microsoft. It might even make a noise.

It didn’t come from Microsoft. It’s a scam.

What’s actually happening

A website you visited loaded a piece of code designed to look like a system alert. It’s not a real virus — it’s a fake warning designed to panic you into calling a number. On the other end of that number is a scammer who will ask to take control of your computer and eventually ask for payment to “fix” the problem they invented.

What to do right now

• Do not call the number. Microsoft, Apple, and Google will never show a pop-up asking you to call them.
• Close the browser. Press the X on the tab, or close the whole browser window. If it won’t close, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete on Windows or force-quit on Mac, then restart.
• Restart your computer. A restart clears most of these fake alerts completely.
• Do not give anyone remote access to your computer — not for this, not ever, unless you initiated the call.

If someone already got in

If you called the number and let someone in, stop. Turn off your computer, disconnect it from Wi-Fi if possible, and call me. This situation is fixable but needs to be addressed before you use that computer again for email or banking.

📶 Device Tip

Why Your Wi-Fi Keeps Dropping — And 3 Things to Try First

April 2025 — Barry, Trusted Tech at Home

Few things are more frustrating than a Wi-Fi connection that works fine one minute and disappears the next. Before you call your internet provider and spend an hour on hold, here are three things worth trying yourself.

1. Restart your router (the right way)

Unplug the power cord from the back of your router, wait a full 30 seconds, then plug it back in. Give it two minutes to fully restart. This clears the router’s memory and fixes the majority of connection problems. If your provider gave you a separate modem and router, restart both — modem first, then router.

2. Check how far you are from the router

Wi-Fi signal weakens through walls, floors, and large appliances. If your router is in a back bedroom and you’re working from your living room, distance is likely part of the problem. Try moving closer to the router to see if the connection improves. If it does, your router may need to be repositioned or you may benefit from a Wi-Fi extender.

3. Too many devices at once

Every phone, tablet, smart TV, and smart home device on your network shares the same connection. If the problem happens at certain times of day, it may simply be congestion. Streaming video and video calls use the most bandwidth — if someone in the house is on Netflix while you’re on a Zoom call, that can cause problems.

If none of these help, the issue may be with your provider or your router may need to be replaced. I can check all of this during an in-home visit — usually in under an hour.

⚠ Scam Alert

Tax Season Warning: What the IRS Will Never Do

March 2025 — Barry, Trusted Tech at Home

Every year from January through April, scam calls and emails pretending to be the IRS spike dramatically. They’re designed to create panic and get you to act before you think. Here is a plain-English list of things the real IRS will never do — so you know immediately when something is fake.

The IRS will never:

• Call you to demand immediate payment. The IRS always contacts you by mail first.
• Require you to pay using a gift card, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency.
• Threaten to send police to your home if you don’t pay right now.
• Ask for your credit or debit card number over the phone.
• Send you an email asking you to click a link and verify your information.
• Leave a voicemail threatening arrest or legal action.

What to do if you get one of these calls

Hang up. You do not need to explain yourself or be polite about it. If you’re concerned there might be a real issue with your taxes, call the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040 using the number you look up yourself — not a number someone gave you.

If you received a message and already gave out information or made a payment, call me. We can walk through what happened and figure out next steps together.