CalamityJane
Premium,VIP,MVM
join:2002-08-27
Eustis, FL
| Re: Beware these "fake" antispyware programs Filters are good  You 3 are obviously "above average" on the security scene.
Unfortunately, for the average user most are not aware of them nor using them and sometimes the site scanners are slow to pick up on these deceptive type programs trying to copycat legitimate programs. I worry most about the increasing numbers of rogues and copycat programs that are misdirecting unsuspecting users to a site that is only there to provide a free "scan" that will of course turn up a number of suspects (some fake and false alerts too), but the user must pay to remove the malware. These guys are really getting unsuspecting folks who are told download Ad-Aware, Spybot, Defender, any recognized program and left to "google" for the link. We're seeing increasing numbers of people who have bought a program thinking it was the recommended one, only to find that a) they have to pay for it (the true free legitimate programs do not make you pay to remove the malware found) and b) it doesn't work, or worse, only finds false detections which could make matters worse.
That particular case Ben outlined is one company trying to cash in on folks getting misdirected via google ads.
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It takes a disaster to make a woman out of a female
Microsoft MVP/Windows Security 2003-2008
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