More fake antivirus scams surfacing, conning many PC users

We’re all pretty familiar by now about the dangers of viruses and malware, and steps to take to avoid infection on our computers. Unfortunately, criminals are inventing new techniques, known as scareware or rougeware, that can trick even the most savvy computer users into downloading malicious software that can steal sensitive personal data.

Organized crime rings have been discovered posing as legitimate IT services to call people and convince them that they have a virus on their system. Users are then conned into purchasing and installing what is purported to be an antivirus utility, but is actually an application that will compromise system security and assist the criminals in stealing the user’s bank account information.

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These same groups have also been successful in conning webmasters of valid commercial websites into advertising their fraudulent applications in a pay-per-download scam. In this ruse, messages are sent from the webmasters to thousands of site users.

You might think that you’d never fall for such a thing, but it seems that a lot of people are. According to GetSafeOnline.org, nearly a quarter of internet users in the UK have received cold calls from supposed IT professionals offering to check their computer for a virus. Additionally, almost half have seen the pop-up windows that falsely claim their system is infected. Experts believe that enough people are buying into these scams that the thieves behind them stand to net millions of dollars from their victims.

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But why are we falling for these scams?

“The general public is more internet security-aware than it was five years ago - malicious AV scams are an indication that criminals are now tapping into this,” says Dr Emily Finch, a criminologist at the University of Surrey. “Rather than exploiting our ignorance – the basic premise of common scams such as phishing - they are actively using our knowledge and fear of online threats to their advantage.”

So how do we avoid becoming victims?

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The best advice that I could recommend is never to install anything on your computer that you haven’t thoroughly researched yourself. Also, don’t take the word of a supposed “professional” at face value. A simple Google search is all you need to do to find out if a program is fraudulent and someone else has been scammed by it, and the time it takes to do the research could save you a lot of money and frustration down the line.

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