How to Protect Yourself From Fake Antivirus Programs and Other Scamware/Scareware

I’m sure you’ve seen the commercials, heard the warnings, and maybe been tempted to visit sites like MaxMySpeed ​​and MyCleanPC. The commercials make the website sound very attractive, one click and your computer performance increases up to 100% as some commercials claim. Have you ever wondered if it could be too good to be true?

Is.

Some of the best antivirus and antispyware programs (in general, antimalware, malware means malicious software) are actually free. Some of the most suspicious programs (with the exception of some big-name brands like TrendMicro, Norton (Symantec), McAfee, etc.) cost you money. It would be one thing if the cost was for a low quality antivirus or antispyware program. You’d be disappointed, sure, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Unfortunately it is not that simple. Scareware can be anything from an annoyance to a nightmare, and the initial cost may only be $40 or so, but wait until you try to remove it.

Scareware/Scamware/Rogueware (same) try scare (hence the name Scareware) to make you think you have a worse problem than it is, so you’ll buy their software which does nothing but scare and annoy you by creating problems where none existed (hence the Scamware/rogue software part) . Scamware will often be installed on your computer without your knowledge or explicit consent. Once it’s on, it can be a nightmare to get rid of.

How do you know if you have been infected with a fake antivirus (ie scareware)?

1. It is first installed without your knowledge and consent. You’ll be minding your own business when suddenly unfamiliar icons often appear in your system tray and you’ll get intermittent warning messages on your taskbar.
2. Once installed, it will often start a scan on your PC without your prompting. If you don’t start a scan, it will act as if you have real-time protection that already found something. And that something usually sounds horrible!
3. If you see a warning popup, it will be worded urgently, as if your computer will fall apart if you don’t hurry up and do something. Aggressive warning messages use scare tactics and usually also direct you back to the scamware’s website (so you can buy it).
4. Fraudulent software often hijacks your browser so that any website you try to access automatically takes you back to his website. Some, though, are nice: they’ll only redirect you when you try to go to a site like TrendMicro’s Housecall.
5. If the software runs a scan, you will see numerous things appear. It will seem that you are not only infected, but hundreds of times. They use this to scare you more obviously. However, these files are generally all safe necessary files, usually with funny names that many people with technical problems do not recognize. If you removed them, you could end up with plus problems!
6. If you are tricked into buying it and try to fix the “problems” shown in the scan results, your computer still it won’t work smoothly because it will still be infected with the rogue antivirus. Not to mention, you may have deleted some good files if you used the scan. That is, if it worked at all!

Not only MaxMyPC, CleanMyPC, MyCleanPC and StopSign are the scams. There is a long list of fake antivirus software on Wikipedia. Popular programs include:

• XP Security Center
• Internet Security 2010
• Win Antivirus Pro
• ByteDefender
• Windows Protection Suite
• Antivirus XP Pro
• virus scan
• XP Defender Pro
• antivirus 2009
• Windows Security Center (a fake Windows Security Center designed to look a lot like the real thing)

You will notice that many of them imitate legitimate software with similar names and, if you see them, very similar appearances. However, removing rogue antivirus software like any other virus, spyware, adware, or other malware is a headache at best.

So how can you avoid rogue antivirus software and rogue antispyware software and not be fooled?

• Many of the best antispyware (or generally antimalware, since many double as antivirus software) programs are FREE. HijackThis, Spybot Search & Destroy, AVG, Avast, Avira, SuperAntispyware, ComboFix, MalwareBytes, WinsockXP Fix (which can fix an Internet connection after malware is removed), and more are FREE (some have free and pro/paid versions) and they work great even on some of the toughest malware. these programs Really help you clean your computer and remove fake antivirus.
• Remember that TV commercials and other mass advertising are not free and you have to pay for them in some way! The above programs are most often advertised by word of mouth on popular tech support forums.
• You can take hours to remove a malware infection and return the computer to its original state, and not Antivirus software can guarantee that it will work 100% every time. If you make this claim, you are lying.
• Remember that your computer can only be so fast no matter what. If your computer doesn’t have the hardware specs to be a fast machine, no matter how hard you clean it, it won’t be. Your computer can only operate within its limits, and any computer that has been in use for a while will almost certainly be slower by nature, even if all installed programs are legitimate.
• Before you visit any so-called antivirus website, any software that claims it can clean your computer with a simple click, or any software advertised with scare tactics, do your research. Do a Google search and look for the results you see the most. Multiple search results mentioning it’s a virus? Stay away!