Broadband Tech > Security > Security > Yes, that PC cleanup app you saw on TV at 3 a.m...

Yes, that PC cleanup app you saw on TV at 3 a.m...

Someone will be getting a call from a team of lawyers tomorrow.

which is unfortunate because the article is right. those programs do nothing that cannot be done for free. either with built in tools or proven and tested freeware.

One thing it did not mention that I usually have done for messed up computers is run the programs like Spybot and Malwarebytes from safe mode. Some malware hunting you have to run from Safemode with Networking because otherwise it jacks all outbound internet requests which means if a customer does not have the software already they cannot download it.(keeping in mind this is because I have mostly done this over the phone, not in person where one would have all the tools on a CD or USB.

It's worse than just that the software does what can be done for free. It's fraud, the capital F kind. It should anger you greatly that it goes on unchecked.

Sadly, when they do finally do get taken down by a class action, they just come back under a different name.

It doesn't anger me. I get angry at idiots who get snookered because they are too lazy to educate themselves about this or anything they get snookered on.
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When governments fear people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. Thomas Jefferson

Why assume people are lazy?

Uneducated, yes. But judging from the training the schools in my area give, safety is barely even touched on. People who can type fast with their thumbs or use Facebook are presumed to be "experts" by other people who know no better, including the school board. Thought processes that make them all easy pickings for a whole host of scammers.

It's not just kids or recreational users - I know people who have worked in IT for companies for 10+ years who are utterly clueless when faced with a virus. Most are small companies, but even large companies and government agencies hire them. They do something all day that keeps them employed, but heaven knows what. I'd never hire them even though they're friends, but people do. It's the Wild West out there.

reply to goalieskates
Well, maybe. But I think we ought to distinguish between "unable to recognize obvious crap when they see it advertised" and "unwilling to do their own software maintenance". The former seems to be an egregious failing, the latter is merely a sense of having something better to do.

(Car analogy for the latter part: I know how to do an oil change. I prefer to pay someone to change my oil.)

reply to antdude
"you can't fix stupid, but you can charge for it!"

Dear Andrew,
You should work with putting this kind of article in AARP, Family Weekly and Casino times! Maybe even have ArsTechnica can sit with Nightline or 20/20 (or other...) and get the message out that:

FUD is real. People that spread it want to reap the failure that stupidity is a birthright.
--
Splat

reply to antdude

reply to goalieskates

reply to rfnut
The demonstration would be to establish a fresh Windows installation into a known security and performance baseline, one where the web browser had not been so much as opened much less used, with everything patched to date and tuned to perfection, snapshot the system there and then install the software in question and watch what it reports.

reply to antdude
yawn... MyCleanPC

2009 »Re: [Rant] How stupid do you have to be...
2010 »CyberDefender scareware scams being advertised on TV/Radio
2010 »[Scam] Cleanmypc.com and other fake looking commercials
2010 »Re: New Ad for Computer Fix
2010 »Re: [Scam] Supportonclick.com scareware scam
2012 »Scam PC optimization software that advertised on TV
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CMKRNL

Also, separately from the technical questions about the product, and probably more seriously, CyberDefender has been accused in and settled class action suits involving billing abuses such as renewing subscriptions automatically without notice and consent, failing to honor subscription cancellation demands, and refusing to give people's money back after marketing their products with a money-back satisfaction guarantee. Are you angry yet?

reply to antdude
The ad for that crapware app still airs on CNN and other large US TV networks.
The link goes into my custom Hosts file that get's installed on every PC I service. Thanks for the awareness on this one.

reply to rfnut
Take though that scary message "your disk is 1.27% fragmented". That actually means "is so unfragmented you needn't give it another thought", but it is presented as if it's a sign of impending disk apocalypse.

So, the motor mechanic equivalent would be one who's saying "your oil life is 1.27% used up, you need to replace it".

reply to siljaline

Every time I see the ad on CNN, I shake my head in disgust as it's well known this stuff is flat-out foistware.

All we could possibly hope for is enough disgusted users to call CNN HQ and say hey ... get this "expletive" of the air.