A scam involving scareware messages has been reported to Greater Sudbury Police Service.

These messages, claiming to be from the RCMP, CSIS or the federal government of Canada, will pop up on a computer and state that the computer is somehow involved with child pornography.

Once clicked on, they will freeze or lock the computer.

The pop-up will then request an amount of money to be paid to unlock the computer. Such messages, commonly known as scareware, are designed to create shock and anxiety, so that victims respond by sending money quickly.

Here are some tips to protect yourself from these types of messages:

- Never click on a pop-up that claims your computer has a virus;
- Update your anti-virus software often and scan your computer for viruses regularly;
- Don’t click on links or attachments in e-mails sent to you by someone you don’t know;
- Turn on your browser’s pop-up blocking feature;
- Never download anti-virus software from a pop-up or link sent to you in an email.

Posted by Arron Pickard