
Scareware blocker warning the user and putting them back in control
Last year, Microsoft announced a powerful new feature for Edge—Scareware Blocker—designed as a “new, first line of defense” against increasingly sophisticated online scams. Now, Microsoft is inviting users to preview this feature and help refine its capabilities in the fight against scareware attacks.
Scareware scams have evolved into a major cyber threat, deceiving victims with aggressive pop-ups and full-screen warnings that falsely claim their computer is infected. These scams pressure users into calling fake tech support lines, potentially exposing their devices to remote access attacks and financial fraud.
As Microsoft highlights, “victims lose over a billion dollars per year to tech support and related scams,” with the elderly being particularly targeted. The rise in cyber threats is staggering—Edge blocked five times more scams in 2024 than it did just three years earlier.
Microsoft Edge already relies on Defender SmartScreen to block known scams, but scammers adapt quickly—sometimes moving their operations within hours to evade detection. Scareware Blocker adds another layer of protection, designed to detect and stop threats before they are flagged in global databases.
The technology behind Scareware Blocker is powered by machine learning models running locally on users’ devices. This means that rather than relying on cloud-based detection, Edge can analyze full-screen pages in real-time, comparing them to thousands of previously reported scareware incidents.
When a suspicious page is detected, Edge takes immediate action:
- Exiting full-screen mode to prevent users from being trapped in a fraudulent pop-up.
- Stopping aggressive audio playback, including fake warning messages.
- Displaying a warning and a thumbnail of the previous page so users can recognize the scam attempt.
Microsoft is also empowering users to improve the system over time. If Scareware Blocker misidentifies a legitimate page, users can report false positives, helping refine the detection model. Likewise, those who encounter real scams can share screenshots and diagnostics to bolster Microsoft’s Defender SmartScreen service.
This collaborative approach supports Microsoft’s broader efforts, including work by the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit, which targets cybercriminal networks at the source.
How to Enable Scareware Blocker:
- Update Edge: Make sure you have the latest version of Microsoft Edge installed.
- Go to Settings: Navigate to Settings → Privacy, Search, and Services.
- Enable the Feature: Locate “Scareware Blocker” and toggle it on.
- Restart Edge: Restart your browser to apply the changes.
The Edge Team emphasizes that user feedback is crucial for refining scareware blocker and protecting the online community. “Sending this feedback makes a difference,” they say. “By reporting false alarms, you help us make the feature more reliable to catch the real scams.”
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