Is that pop-up a scam?

Hundreds of rogue anti-malware products are on the internet waiting to infect your computer.  They appear legitimate so you better arm yourself with enough knowledge and protection to differentiate the scam from the legitimate protection.  They are often called “scareware” because they attempt to scare you into purchasing their crappy software and force you into clicking whatever button they offer to you by covering up any escape methods on your computer screen.  They’ve been around since about 2005 and are often linked to spyware infections.  After they scare or force their victim into purchasing their crappy software, they will often steal the victim’s credit card number and commit more theft on their victims.

More than 850 scareware programs and thousands of associated files have been identified in the past 7 years, with new scareware entering the internet daily.  In the early years about 160 new scareware programs were found each year.  In 2011 about 225 scareware programs were discovered.  The distributors of scareware also release clones of their products with a new product name, on a daily basis to avoid detection from security software vendors and users.  Many of the scareware distributors have legitimate sounding names and look like real Microsoft products too.

Scareware programs will pop-up and take over your entire computer screen with a scary message telling you that your computer is infected.  The pop-up will link to a shopping cart to buy the scammers software.  After you buy the scam software, the scareware will appear to do a scan and remove the phony viruses from your computer.  Meanwhile the only virus your computer has been infected with is the scareware that is now most certainly infecting your computer with all sorts of nasty programs like malware that steal your credit card numbers, passwords, and often will even render your computer un-usable.

Research the validity of any software product with trusted websites like microsoft.com , GFI Labs rogues blog, VirusTotal, ZDNet.com and Builder.com.  You can search for descriptions of scareware, malware, and find detailed information about how to remove any rogue software you were tricked or forced into installing onto your computer.  You can quickly search for any keyword with google.com  too.

VirusTotal is a free online service that uses more than 40 antivirus products to scan URLS and files for malicious software threats.  They also provide a list of verified, legitimate antivirus products.  Be very careful because the scammers do try to make themselves look exactly like the legitimate companies.  If you are in doubt, contact your local trusted computer guru for help.

WestCoastLabs is another organization that tests and rates anti-malware software.  You can search their website to research what is on your computer and what you are considering installing onto your computer. 

The fastest way to check if software is a scam, is to search with google.  Put the name of the software product into google and see what the results are.  If the majority of the search results show phrases such as “rogue”, “how to get rid of”, and “how to remove” the software is probably a scam.  Put the name of a legitiate product into google and you will see different results that provide details about the software.  ClamWin AV for Windows is a legitimate free antivirus program, so put the key words ‘ClamWin Antivirus’ into the search engine to review what the search results are like for a legitimate antivirus program.

Scammers, scareware, careware, parasiteware, malware, and similar are literally banking on the success of scaring users into believing their computers are infected.  You must learn how to distinguish between legitimate antivirus products and their impersonating counterparts.  Simple search tactics and common sense will help you avoid rogue anti-malware software. 

References:

GFI VIPRE AntiVirus Business.   Retrieved online March 26th 2012 from

http://www.gfi.com/business-antivirus-software

GFI. Retrieved online March 26th 2012 from http://www.gfi.com

ClamWin Free AntiVirus for Windows.  Retrieved online March 26th from

http://www.clamwin.com/