How To Fix A Hijacked Browser in Windows 10

It's happened to us a couple of times already.  A user is browsing the web and then a message comes up saying something like "This site says.... Call technical support immediately at 1-800-XXX-XXX" and you are prevented from closing that tab or going to any other tab. Here's an example:

If you shut down the browser and reopen it it will come up with the same message. How any company could make a browser that could be overtaken like that is amazing to me.

If your browser's been hijacked, DO NOT click any of the buttons in the message. If they are unscrupulous enough to take over your browser like that they are likely to do something worse if you click on their pop-up.

The first thing you should do is launch your Task Manager by pressing the CTRL - ALT - DELETE keys all at the same time. Click on Task Manager and you should see:

On the Processes tab, Right-Click on the entry for your browser and select End Task:

Now click on the Cortana icon in the lower left hand corner

or click in the Cortana space (same area as the icon) and type: google.com

Your browser will launch normally and continue to do so thereafter.