Dec 12, 2009

Antivirus Scamming

I'm sure we have all came across a pop up window that claims that it is scanning your computer for viruses and then claims you have one. I have never trusted these pop up scanners because I never know where there come from and since I have an up to date antivirus running on my computer I always figure its some sort of scan to get people to spend money. Well recently the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center issued a warning stating that a majority of these are in fact scams. They state that "At best, the software is subpar. At worst, it could result in viruses, Trojans and/or keyloggers being installed on the user's computer". It is estimated that by the FBI that victims of these scams have lost more than $150 million.

The FBI recommends that you do not click on these pop ups and should in fact close your browser immediately and possibly your computer. You should also run your antivirus to make sure there is nothing on your computer.

Security FAQ's website lists ways to help you identify fake antivirus programs:
  • Fake anti-virus software will often find more suspicious activity on your computer than those programs that are made by legitimate companies.
  • The number of pop-ups you see will increase drastically, even when you are not connected to the internet.
  • After installing the fake anti-virus program you may notice that your computer slows down drastically due to the amount of junk that has been installed onto your system.
  • You may also find that your default homepage has been changed and now points to the scammer’s ‘official-looking’ site.
  • Words on websites are now underlined and now hyperlink to undesirable locations, such as adult sites.

Of course the best possible way to prevent these scams is to never use any of these sort of antivirus programs and use only the one you have installed on your computer.
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3 comments:

  1. tlhilton1December 12, 2009 at 2:46 PM

    Michelle,
    I ran into this once, just after installing a pc. Somehow I had the firewall turned off. These sites pop-up warnings, after putting a few files on your pc, which are generally harmless however, they want you to buy their software to stop them from sending these “bogus” pop-ups. I was so angry and I was certainly not going to pay the perpetrators to stop sending pop-ups. Luckily I made a ghost image prior to connecting her pc to the Internet so I re-ghosted it, which only took a couple minutes, then turned on the firewall before connecting it to the Internet. Anyway, I really wonder why these sites can’t be investigated and / or prosecuted.

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  2. PattyDecember 12, 2009 at 8:48 PM

    Michelle, this was a great post! I have seen something similar appear but have known never to click on these popups. The best thing anyone can do is to make sure that they invest in a good anti virus software and perform the scans and updates as necessary. The software package I use, Kaspersky, continually releases updates for their customers security.

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  3. Michelle KahlerDecember 13, 2009 at 7:22 PM

    Patty,
    I also use Kaspersky. I agree that the most important thing is to make sure your antivirus is on AND up to date. It makes no sense to have an anitvirus if you don't keep it up to date because your software may not be protecting you from the newest viruses.

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