Shields Up!: Fake anti-spyware programs on the rise

Fake anti-virus programs were a huge problem in 2009. Scammers poisoned search results, used banner and pop up ads, and compromised legit websites to spread them to unsuspecting users. They pretend to scan your system, pretend to find all sorts of infections, and then insist you must fork over the cash to buy the full version in order to clean them out. You pay, the program deletes the fake infections, and the scammers walk away with your money. It’s digital snake oil, and scammers have made millions from it.

Now in 2010, fake anti-spyware programs are popping up. One of them, Malware Defense, works in the same way as the fake anti-virus programs did, but is distributed via fake flash updates or video codecs. Another, called Rapidantivirus, is distributed in much the same way as the fake anti-virus programs, using poisoned search results, banner and pop up ads, and spam.

These programs may do more than just take your money. Like the fake anti-virus programs, they often drop other kinds of spyware on your system or provide a backdoor that hackers can use to take control of it and use it to send spam.

To protect yourself, never click on pop ups or banner ads informing you your system is infected, or on any links you get via spam. When using search engines, stick to results from well known websites. I highly recommend using an anti-virus program like AVG, which has a very useful toolbar and link scanner. When you do a search, the results have either a green checkmark next to them, meaning they are safe, or a yellow (questionable), orange (risky) or red (malicious) mark so you can see at a glance what links are okay to click on. Very valuable tool and it’s free!

Read [SpamFighter News]