Any unwanted activity whether it is a virus, malware, phishing email, malicious solicitation or any other form of attack is annoying and all too often costly.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to keep your system safe and your money in your pocket.
The first and most fundamental thing is to have an anti-virus program installed, updated and running scans.  It is absolutely essential that these conditions are true.  There are numerous programs that are available.  They range from free to over $100 per device.  You can easily search the Internet for “best anti-virus” and get numerous ratings with detailed information about each option. 
Similarly, anti-malware programs are numerous and can also be searched for recommendations.
There are a number of programs that offer both anti-virus and anti-malware.
It is also important to keep all of your programs up to date.  This includes your Operating System as well.  Many programs will announce that an update is available but a prudent approach is to proactively look for updates on each one periodically – every 60 days is a good program.
Finally, an extremely important element is to avoid malicious approaches to you rather than your device.  Any pop-up, phone call or email that warns you that you are infected is false.  So far, legitimate companies do not reach contact their customers directly to warn them, so any communication like this is malicious.  Our rule is to never interact with them but instead, open a browser, make your own connection to the company’s website, log into your account if you have one, look for a contact method and ask them if there is a problem.  The answer will probably never be yes.