Google Chrome users warned of ‘clever’ fake alert hackers use to raid accounts

GOOGLE Chrome users have been warned about a new “clever” trick used by hackers to raid accounts.

The same sneaky threat has been targeting those using Microsoft Word online and OneDrive too.

It comes in the form of a fake notification that pretends there’s been an error.

“Something went wrong while displaying this webpage,” one example showed.

The dubious popup tells people to click a button that will apparently fix a problem.

But following the instructions will only lead to your machine being snooped on.

“Although the attack chain requires significant user interaction to be successful, the social engineering is clever enough to present someone with what looks like a real problem and solution simultaneously, which may prompt a user to take action without considering the risk,” warned Proofpoint, who uncovered the ruse.

Once users click the button they are told to copy and paste instructions into their machine’s system.

But behind the scenes it installs a range of nasty software.

Among them is malware that can steal your account details.

It can also trigger fraudulent crypto transactions without people realising.

Any supposed error message or website asking you to copy and paste a prompt into the Windows PowerShell should be an immediate red flag.

Think twice before acting on any popups with buttons offering to fix a problem that then ask you to paste text into your computer’s system this way.