When it comes to computers, few things scare an owner more than seeing the words "you have a virus" pop up on your screen. Luckily, there is protection out there, but not all is what it's cracked up to be. We have a heads up on a warning from the Federal Trade Commission.
You're innocently sending an email or surfing the net and a message pops up offering a "free security scan" of your computer. It's tempting, but could be a huge mistake. You may be faced with something called "scareware".
Joe Ridout from Consumer Action said, “Scareware is a series of fake security alerts that tries to redirect users to a site that can, in turn, sell them bogus software to fix a problem that they don't really have."
The pop-up tells you to run a free scan. Click yes and it inevitably finds an error, which the software then tells you it will fix, for a fee, when really, there was no virus at all.
Dan Salsburg from the FTC said, "The scan is entirely bogus, there is nothing wrong with your computer and you've just wasted your money."
Iin some cases, it may actually infect your computer and the virus you end up with could put you at deeper risk of identity theft or financial fraud.
Ridout said, "Many of these viruses could have keystroke logging software that capture your financial and personal information."
The Federal Trade Commission says there are millions of victims already. They recently won court injunctions to stop several operations, but many more are out there. It's easy to fall for considering where the pop-ups appear.
"The businesses running the scareware scams would place real ads but would embed extra code to redirect users away from the real sites on to the scam artist sites,” said Ridout.
There are plenty of legitimate companies offering computer protection software, but the FTC says it's hard to tell which pop-up is safe without a deeper search. So if you see an offer it's best to shutdown your browser immediately.
"This doesn't mean clicking the little x box, it doesn't mean clicking no, all those can be programmed by the purveyor to actually install the scareware," said Salsburg.
Ed Basil spends hours a day on his computer. He knows to stay clear of these pop-ups. Instead, he does what the experts advise and uses his own security software that came with his computer and he keeps it current.
"People have to be careful to have a legitimate anti-virus program and legitimate anti-spyware program on their computer,” said Ridout.
You can purchase anti-virus software or use a trusted free program to make sure you're protected. The Consumer Action expert recommends some of the free ones, such as AVG, SpyBot, or Avast 4.7.
In a Cosumer Reports tests of internet security software, of the ones you pay for, the top two performers were the BitDefener Internet Security 2008, and the McAfee Internet Security Suite with SiteAdvisor. Both cost $50.
