Extortion Frauds Pervade 21st Century With Bogus Anti-Viruses

The latest security threat that's being combated in the world of Internet scams is fake anti-virus or anti-malware software. These scams have Web-surfers scared into purchasing dubious security programs following false alarms of malware infecting their computers. IXDownload.com published this on August 5, 2010.

States head of corporate communications Oliver Thompson at IXDownload.com, while thinking about obtaining something under duress alternatively security scams, any discussion in a manner of warning intimidates physical violence alternatively cause harm to the end-user's business. Scammers behind bogus security software have adapted this traditional play to the Internet era and the 21st century. Moreover, it's just as frightening or worse, vis-à-vis a threat looming on the person's wife and children, unless he agrees to pay up. IXDownlad.com reported this.

Encouragingly, authentic anti-virus and anti-malware software have become more effective and sophisticated following shady programmers' activities that yielded high revenues via the sale of malware detection and anti-virus software for cleaning infections which didn't really exist.

Furthermore the scams are spread with first contaminating PCs with malicious software that generates realistic-looking and scary "security alerts" while suggesting that a virus exists on the users' systems.

This type of scam has one other variation i.e. the loader talks about embarrassing information or pornography present on the end-user's PC albeit concealed. Thereafter the warning feigns to help the computer-operator in searching the so-called concealed files via loading and activating the bogus security software.

But end-users become infected when they download cracked or counterfeit applications offered on torrent websites; follow a web-link that diverts them onto a page containing an exploit; view an e-mail attachment having an HTML file that diverts onto a similar page; approve the loading of an apparently helpful browser plug-in; alternatively run bogus engines for scanning malware.

Additionally, the scams don't just end with frightening users into purchasing particularly useless anti-malware/anti-virus programs, but makers of these programs can also exploit them for grabbing sensitive data pertaining to online banking, file storage and Internet browsing.

Thus it's advisable that users act carefully while choosing and installing security software as also abide by the alerts from genuine anti-viruses and Web-browsers.

Related article: External Software Can Allow Malware into Windows Vista

» SPAMfighter News - 8/14/2010