Windows 10 Email Scam

This is just a friendly warning for our readers. Windows 10 was officially released last month and Microsoft decided that they would stagger the release of their free update to users. People were asked to reserve their copy in advance and wait for the release date. Now that the release date has come and gone people have to wait to be notified for when their reservation is ready. According to Microsoft this could take between a few days or a few weeks.

Because of this it seems that someone somewhere has tried to take advantage of the staggered released of the new operating system. There have been reports of emails being sent out posing as an official Microsoft e-mail notifying individuals with a link to download Windows 10. These emails are a scam, Microsoft is notifying users through the Windows symbol in the bottom right of your screen and not through email.

The Cisco blog says that the link, should you download it, is called CTB-Locker and that it’s ransomware. It looks as if it will lock up files on your PC and demand that you send money for the files to be unfrozen. This is obviously something that you would probably want to avoid. The email will come from an email with the Microsoft.com attachment and follow the typical blue and white colour scheme of Microsoft products. It even comes with a notification that it’s been scanned for malware.

The real notification for downloading Windows 10 will come from the app at the bottom right of your screen. The same app that you may have used to reserve your copy for the free Windows 10 update. If you are tired of waiting, Microsoft has provided a way to manually download Windows 10 yourself. But, if you’d still rather wait for your notification, just make sure that your checking the Windows app and not suspicious emails.