A former White House scientist was scammed out of $655,000. Then came the IRS.

[UpInArms]

1. several years ago,

a friend called me. She is a paraplegic and uses her computer for just about everything.

She said that her computer was frozen with that message (basically the same one from this article) across her screen and could I help her or should she call Microsoft?

I told her that her computer had been compromised and to just shut it off and I would pick it up later and get the hacker out of it - either by using some software or by reformatting the computer.

She again said "shouldn't I just call Microsoft?" and my response to her was:

Microsoft does not give a flying F*** about you or your computer. That is a scammer and they will attempt to steal everything you have.
Just turn it off and wait for me to get it fixed.

.....

I have never had Microsoft try to "fix" anything and would probably not trust anyone calling me saying they were a Microsoft representative.

Once you buy your computer, no one really cares if it runs well or not. This is a YOYO society. You are On Your Own.