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Beware of Windows 10 Activation Tech Support Scams

Windows 10’s growth is on a roll, the flagship operating system is currently running on over 300 million PCs and devices worldwide, since its launch last year. With the accelerated growth, comes new opportunities, both good and bad. The latest example of the bad is a Product Activation Scam that some users are starting to see on their installations. The Windows 10 Activation Pro Scam is quite convincing. Since Microsoft has been aggressively pushing for everyone to upgrade to Windows 10, it can easily fool non-techy users.

Scams Pretending to Be Windows 10 Product Activation

Recently, a follower on Twitter sent a tweet asking me to confirm if a recent message on their computer about activating Windows 10 was a scam. After reviewing the image below, it turned out her hunch was right. Scams such as this are intelligently designed and engineered to appear genuine. Users will notice the graphics use the same colors and themes associated with the real Windows 10 update branding.


Microsoft is a major target because of the ubiquity of the Windows operating system. Scammers will convince distressed users to grant access to their computer using remote access software such as TeamViewer. Doing this will only make the problem worse. The Tech Support Scammers can fabricate damages while accessing the system and deleting files or executing malicious code.


Check your Windows 10 Activation

If you get a message notifying you to activate Windows 10, check your activation status first in Windows, it’s easy. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Activation. There you will see either Windows Activated or Unable to reach Windows Activation servers.


Another way Windows 10 will notify you of its activation status is a subtle on-screen watermark. Microsoft is less aggressive about product activation than it was in previous versions. Windows 10 is more relaxed and even though you don’t get certain personalization options if you don’t activate, the OS is still fully functional.


Depending on the licensing channel from which your Windows 10 license is derived, Windows 10 will let you know it is about to expire. Users of volume license clients will receive this notification. Notice that Windows directs the user to go to Settings to resolve the issue? Usually, such errors are fixed by authenticating on a Windows Server Domain or by VPN into your company’s network.

Activation problems can often be resolved by connecting to the Internet. The process is usually performed automatically in the background without the user knowing. If Windows 10 does not activate over the Internet, then you can try other options such as Chat Support by calling a tollfree number.

If you do encounter a Windows 10 Activation Scam, press Windows key + X, click Programs and Features then look for any programs called Windows 10 Activation Pro or similar. If you just started seeing Windows 10 Activation Pro, try sorting by date and time or use the search box to find it. Select it then click Change/Uninstall on the command bar then follow instructions to remove it. You can also try doing a system restore before you started experiencing this problem.

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