Buzz
A variant of this new scam tech has been reported in Google Chrome's bug report. When users access any website on the browser, CPU usage rapidly reaches 100%, resulting in the inability to close tabs or the browser malfunctioning until the Chrome process is terminated.
Upon accessing the listed URL, you will be redirected to a deceptive technical support website named Important Information. This website disguises itself under the Windows error name: 'Internet Security Alert! Code: 055BCCAC9FEC', claiming your computer is infected with a virus and instructing you to call the support number listed on the page for assistance.
Noteworthy is that this page contains JavaScript, causing the browser to continuously redirect to URL #. It includes a back button to navigate to the previous page in the web browsing history and a forward button to return to the initial page.
This loop causes the browser to utilize all computer CPU resources, as displayed in the screenshot of the Chrome Task Manager below:
Excessive CPU usage leads to the browser freezing, making the computer almost unusable. At this point, the only way to close the browser is to end the violating Chrome.exe process using tools like Windows Task Manager. (In the case of the computer's CPU running at 100%, refer to the fix for CPU 100% error here).
The issue is that after closing the process and reopening Chrome, the browser will prompt you to reopen the previous pages. Inadvertently, this will reopen the deceptive support page, causing browser freeze incidents again.
Therefore, after being impacted by the fraudulent website and terminating the browser process, ensure you do not allow the web browser to reopen or restore the previously opened tabs; otherwise, everything will revert to the initial state.
Currently, this new scam tech does not affect Firefox. If affected, users only need to close the tabs and the Firefox browser to eliminate this scam tech.
