PC help: Block spam in Skype

Q I use Skype to keep in touch with friends and family around the world.

Recently, while I was logged on to Skype but not using it, a Skype chat message appeared on our computer saying: “WINDOWS REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ATTENTION: Security Center has detected malware on your computer!”

It listed lots of affected software including Microsoft Windows NT Server, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 and it then said: “Recommendation: Users running vulnerable version should install a repair utility immediately. Your system IS affected, download the patch from the address below. Failure to do so may result in severe computer malfunction.”

There was a link to a website below that I didn’t click on it, but should I be worried about it?

Elizabeth J

A In a word, no. This is an old scam that’s taken a new form. The website in question is called Alertmonitor and it is a known problem site – it gives users this spurious error message and directs them to the site where you’ll be encouraged to pay for the company’s so-called security program, which actually does nothing of the sort.

This kind of message usually appears in emails and pop-up windows in your web browser, but this is the first time we’ve seen it distributed as a Skype message.

Needless to say, you should ignore it and add the sender to your Blocked Senders list (in the top-right of the message window, under the icon of the sender, there’s a small grey Menu button – click this and select Block This User.

You can also stop unknown people from contacting you: go to the Tools menu in Skype and click Options. Then select Privacy from the list on the left and make sure ‘Only allow people in my Contact List to contact me’ and click Save. If that option doesn’t appear, click the Show Basic Options button first.

It’s important to be able to recognise these scam messages – they always pop-up uninvited and unannounced, and often give away the fact that they are scams.

In this case, it listed lots of operating systems (Windows NT, and so on), none of which you are using, and it gives no actual details of the supposed problem.

Any true alert will come from your own anti-virus, firewall or anti-spyware program. This will always look roughly the same – the look varies from program to program, but you should learn to recognise the alerts that your own security software makes, so that you won’t be fooled.