"It was apparently a malware site"

It is not a "malware site" , is a site which may convince you to pay money to "disinfect" your PC.

So, nothing to detect.

Hi @dmawalker ,

Welcome to Trend Micro Online Community.

What you encountered was a fake pop-up warning that usually ends up to Technical Support Scam. In those instances, you will be redirected to another webpage, none of them are real but it will prevent you from controlling your cursor.

Please provide the URL of that fake webpage and the contact number you dialed that connected you to one of their agents trying to scam you.

The reason why it wasn't detected as malicious is because there's nothing wrong with the website and it can't do any harm. the only things that make it dangerous were the fact that it was designed to fool the victims in to believing that the "Warning" was real and IF the victims contacted the number indicated on the page. That's where they start to scam people.

Such threats can be prevented by having the Trend Micro Toolbar, one of the Available features of your Antivirus.
 

One last thing, that's one of the risks of having an outdated operating system. they can't load latest versions of certain software which can result to vulnerability risks.

Thank you for the insights.

I believe that the url was "https//kroger-feedback.online".

The contact phone # was (833) 289-0072

When I broke off contact, I almost immediately got several calls from another phone # (662) 532-2368 that I ignored.

I was already planning to purchase a new desktop running Windows 11 before my current TrendMicro subscription runs; those plans will now be accelerated.

@dmawalker​ 

"I was already planning to purchase a new desktop"

Are you planning to buy a new desktop every time you get scared by a Support Scam?

Hi @dmawalker 

 

Welcome to Trend Micro Home Users Community!

You were the victim of a fraudulent pop-up alert, which typically leads to a technical support scam. In some cases, you will be sent to another webpage none of which are actual but you won't be able to move your cursor. One available feature is the Trend Micro Toolbar which can help stop these attacks.

Instead of purchasing a new desktop computer you could consider to upgrade to the latest version of Operating System which is Windows 11.
 

Kindly provide the link of that fraudulent website as well as the phone number you tried calling to speak with one of their representatives who was attempting to scam you.

Looking forward to your response.

Thank you!

Heck no.  But when your virus checker is no longer supported, that changes your perspective.  I've used Trend Micro for years, dating back to Windows XP.  When Trend Micro told me that XP was no longer going to be supported, I removed that system from service and air-gapped it (I already had put my Windows 7 system into service).  I never received a comparable warning from Trend Micro about W-7 when I last renewed (for 2 years), but the latest update (one year into the renewal) failed with a message that W-7 wasn't supported any more.  Since I had renewed for 2 years, TM patched my system so it would work.  So I've been planning this move since December.  But this attack was a new experience for me.

So, from my perspective, the obvious move is to get the new desktop with the latest OS.  In the meantime, I am talking to you from my W-11 laptop.  Moving my desktop workload over is going to be a pain, but sometimes you have to grit your teeth and do it.

Please note that I am NOT upset with TM and I fully intend to keep using it.

See my earlier response.

Hi @dmawalker​,

Thank you for continuing to choose Trend Micro for your device security. We really appreciate it!

Thank you as well for providing the link and the hotline number. Upon review, the site is still untested. Therefore, we recommend that you use the Trend Micro Toolbar to avoid opening untested or untrusted sites. You can also visit the Trend Micro Site Safety Center to check if a link is safe or not.

Oh yes @dmawalker , I definitely agree with you about moving workloads from an old device to a new one.
 
Also, correct. Choosing to upgrade to windows 11 would be great but in terms of your digital security, antivirus software alone is not enough.
 
One must still practice a safe browsing habit. especially nowadays, where threats are no longer "just" about viruses and malwares. we now have cyber crimes, social engineering attacks, not to mention those annoying spam and phishing emails.
 
- Ensure that you maximize your antivirus features and keep them updated.
- Refrain from clicking on ads.
- Refrain from downloading files from the internet unless you can verify that the source is trusted.
- Carefully examine unfamiliar emails by checking for misspellings, sender of the email and their links or attachments. 
- Avoid providing your personal information to the sites you visit.

Those are few, but they help a lot.
 
Be alert and stay vigilant.

Hi, @dmawalker 

Go to

https://global.sitesafety.trendmicro.com

Fill up the details such as Your name, email address, your serial number of your product etc. Also provide detailed description. Choose any suggested category type therein such as Malware, Phishing, Scam etc. Then provide the site or url for reclassification to Trend Micro.

After that you will receive an email from Trend Micro that you have requested to review this website or url. You have to click on the link provided by Trend Micro in that email. Then you will be redirected to a page which shows that reclassification request accepted and submitted.

Regards,

Anime_007