Scammers are once again making an appearance after discovering a critical bug in the Chrome browser. More specifically, we are talking about a tech support scam, which is capable of "crashing" Chrome, and giving the false impression that the computer user urgently needs the help of a professional. There are suspicions that a similar bug may exist in Firefox.
The technique, which was revealed in February, uses the window.navigator.msSaveOrOpenBlob API . By combining the API with other functions, the scammers force the browser to save a file to the hard drive, and the file is saved repeatedly at a very high speed, so much so that it is not obvious to the user what is happening. Within 5 to 10 seconds, the browser stops responding. When this happens, the user is stuck at the point where they see the message shown in the image.
This technique “freezes” the browser after displaying a critical error that reports some kind of security breach. This can cause many users to panic and call the phone number displayed on the screen, as the error gives the impression that it will not be fixed by closing the browser. When someone calls the scammers, who pretend to work for Microsoft, they ask for their card details (which they should never give out). The scams are usually spread through malicious advertisements or from real sites that have been hacked.
According to the browser's bug tracker, the bug was fixed with version 65 , released in February. However, a subsequent update released in June resurfaced the bug.
A Google spokesperson stated that they are aware of the existence of this bug, and are working to fix it.
The most important thing to remember when faced with a tech support scam is not to panic and never call the phone number that appears. When you have no other choice, end the process via Task Manager (ctrl-alt-del).
