Users Advised to be Cautious of Phony Antivirus Warnings

Security specialists at consumer watchdog SCAMwatch are warning consumers not to click on antivirus alerts that pop-up on their computer screens as these could be false and meant to infect the system with dangerous malware.

The alerts normally appear when an attachment in e-mail is opened, or when a user downloads a file, or if an advertisement popping up is clicked.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said that scammers frequently use names of reputed companies dealing in computer programs in order to gain users' confidence. Also, the antivirus pop-up ads attempt to imitate real alert messages that the computer security program generates. Trusting that the antivirus security software is genuine, the user remits money to buy the counterfeit program.

For instance, one strain of malware called WinAntispyware 2008 changes the desktop of the user along with the system preferences so that alert messages could be displayed and the system instigated to scan. All these are merely to trick the user to buy the security programs that actually not perform.

Further, the non-chargeable antivirus programs offered in the fake e-mails either don't perform or infect PCs with malware the e-mails carry. Security experts state that scammers use these programs to gather personal information that is sold off to other criminals.

Moreover, according to SCAMwatch, phony antivirus programs often produce more 'warnings' than the security software reputable companies make. Users might be flooded with pop-up warnings, even when their computers are offline. Also, scammers ordinarily use vigorous sales tactics to persuade users to purchase immediately.

Hence, SCAMwatch recommends that users should avoid clicking on doubtful pop-ups. Further, they should view the list of applications active on their computer by pressing control-alt-delete, and then erase the pop-up warning from the series of the active applications. Also, they must not use the contact information provided in any pop-up message.

Conversely, although most antivirus pop-up ads are false, there could be a possibility that the user received a genuine virus alert. Therefore, in case any user is not sure about an alert's genuineness, he should visit the antivirus vendor's official page to confirm.

Related article: Users Making Opening Online Accounts To Identify Thefts

» SPAMfighter News - 1/9/2009