03/06/2026
If a website ever tells you to press Windows Key + R, close the tab immediately.
That's the giveaway for a scam called ClickFix.
It's been quietly responsible for a wave of malware infections this year and it's catching people out because it looks completely legitimate.
Here's what happens.
You click a Google result. Lands you on a hacked website. A fake CAPTCHA pops up and tells you to press Windows Key + R, then Ctrl + V, then Enter to prove you're human.
The second you hit Enter?
You've just installed malware on your own machine.
No file was downloaded. No warning from your browser. From Windows' perspective, you just typed a command the same way any IT admin would. So your antivirus has nothing to flag.
What that malware does is called an infostealer. It scrapes every saved password, browser cookie, session token, and stored card detail it can find.
A few things worth doing this week:
1) Tell your team if any website asks you to press Win+R or paste something into a Run box, close it and report it. That's it. That's the rule.
2) If your staff have no reason to run PowerShell scripts (most don't), restrict access using AppLocker or Windows Defender Application Control.
3) Make sure your endpoint protection is doing behavioural monitoring, not just scanning for known threats. Most modern tools including Microsoft Defender for Endpoint have detection rules built specifically for this.
No shame in falling for it. They're designed to look real.
But once you know the keystroke trick, it stops working on you.