Beware of ads in Windows 10 apps
Some of the core Windows 10 applications, like Microsoft News that come pre-installed with the operating system are natively displaying ads.
Those ads can sometimes be deceptive and make users believe that their PC is infected with malware or that they have won a prize. Once a fraudulent Ad is picked by the Ad server it is displayed to the user. The advertisement then opens a deceptive web page in the default browser and either open a warning message like “this PC is infected” or display a tempting message like “you have won an iPhone”. In both cases, inexperienced Windows 10 users might take the bait and get their system infected.
Microsoft MVP volunteer Ingo Böttcher confirmed that Windows Apps may open fake websites and infect Windows 10 machines. According to Böttcher, the problem is caused by fraudulent advertisement campaigns that run on Microsoft’s advertising network.
Windows 10 users are advised to close the fraudulent web pages. Doing so, no harm will be done to your system.
Experienced users can install a DNS-based ad-blocking software that can deal with the issue while inexperienced Windows users will have to wait for Microsoft to ban fraudulent publishers and ads from their ad network.
Until this is done, please be careful and don’t be too naive because if something seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t.
