'Your Mac needs to be updated to improve compatibility' Scam

'Your Mac needs to be updated to improve compatibility' is a legitimate prompt, which macOS users may see when there is a major pending update for their operating system. However, you should not always trust this message – if you see it while visiting an unknown website, then you have probably become the target of the 'Your Mac needs to be updated to improve compatibility' Scam. It is not uncommon for online con artists to steal legitimate warnings and alerts and then tailor them according to their needs. As you can probably guess, encountering the 'Your Mac needs to be updated to improve compatibility' online scam has nothing to do with a legitimate update – instead, the fraudulent page may prompt you to download a shady piece of software. Often, such scams are used to spread adware and Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs,) but they may also be associated with high-level threats such as Remote Access Trojans and infostealers.

The best way to avoid falling victim to the 'Your Mac needs to be updated to improve compatibility' Scam is to remember that this message is invalid when it shows up in your Web browser. Keep in mind that the scammers behind these campaigns may design the message to look like a legitimate Mac prompt, so you should be careful if the pop-up looks like a legit message. Thankfully, there is a simple way to avoid falling victim to this particular scam. When you see the 'Your Mac needs to be updated to improve compatibility' message, do not follow any links or instructions. Instead, head to the Apple Menu -> Software Update and check from there.