Scareware Scam Victims Rarely Fight Back

According to a new research, only few victims of the rouge anti-virus scams attempt to retrieve fake credit card payments for worthless software packages, as reported by The Register on July 28, 2010.

After possessing the list of users cheated into buying fake antivirus packages, security blogger Brian Krebs got in touch with the victims of scareware scams. The document cited the amounts charged to more than 2,000 people across the globe.

As per Krebs, the documents showed that only 367 victims (less than 20%) were concerned to contact their banks or scammers to repay the fraudulent charges, as reported by the KrebsonSecurity on July 27, 2010.

Krebs interrogated more than a dozen victims of the first scareware attack which took place between April 12 and April 15 (2010). Everybody reported that that their computers became unusual and the only way to get back the control over the machine was to surrender and buy the software.

In every case, as soon as the victims submitted their payment details, the hijacking program vanished, leaving no mark of itself and moreover no clue of any bogus security program on the victim's computer.

Krebs further stated that even the minority of victims who realized that they had been cheated got nothing when they complained their banks. Krebs wrote in his report that he was unable to track even a single victim who had successfully reimbursed the money with his bank or credit card provider, though some had the charges revoked after calling the number cited in the customer support e-mail, as reported by The Register on July 28, 2010.

Some people reported that they had attempted to get in touch with Scam Company or their credit card provider, but got nothing more than runaround and thus ultimately gave up.

The security experts commented that the providers of the fake anti-virus were sophistically growing in their approach towards doing business, which involved preventing victims from raising a stink to some extent. Some of the scamware scammers had even begun to offer live assistance.

To stay safe and protected, users are advised to install firewalls and security systems into their computers. They should immediately contact the concerned authorities, if they are cheated by the scareware distributors.

Related article: SecureWorks Identifies Bank and Information Stealing Trojan Coreflood

» SPAMfighter News - 8/10/2010