There is an epidemic of fake anti-malware software on the Internet-- which is collectively called "rogue anti-malware"
Marketed under hundreds of different names, such as VirusRemover 2008 and Antivirus XP 2009, this type of rogue software scares people by giving false alarms, and then tries to deceive them into paying for removal of non-existing malware.
This video (produced by the good folks at WOT*) shows what happens when a legitimate site gets infected and redirected to one of these bogus anti-malware scams.
Yes, folks, legitimate websites.
The people behind this scourge use many different ways to try to entice you to click-- realistic pop-up windows appear, offers of "free trials" arrive in e-mail, and "free scan" buttons on legit-looking 'fight malware' websites, etc..
As this video shows, the user is tricked into (scared into, really) providing their credit card # (oops.. might want to cancel that card..) to clean infections that weren't there before they clicked.
* The 'false positives' are not "cleaned" BUT, more adware and spyware is installed.
* A good percentage of my calls at Aplus Computer Aid are folks needing help with getting rid of these rogues, because they use the latest techniques to combat removal, and can be quite tough.. if not impossible.. to remove them.
* Is that anti-spyware program really spyware?
* A Website dedicated to combating this epidemic is Spyware Warrior. It has a pretty good list of known rogues, and much more detailed information.
Today's free download: WOT is a free Internet security addon for your browser. It will keep you safe from online scams, identity theft, spyware, spam, viruses and unreliable shopping sites. WOT warns you before you interact with a risky Website. It's easy and it's free.
- Ratings for over 20 million websites
- Downloaded 1 million times
- The WOT browser addon is light and updates automatically
- WOT rating icons appear beside search results in Google, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Gmail, etc.
- Settings can be customized to better protect your family
- WOT Security Scorecard shows rating details and user comments
Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved.
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