I’m sure you’ve seen the commercials, heard the warnings, and perhaps been tempted to check out sites like MaxMySpeed and MyCleanPC. The commercials make the website sound very attractive, one click and your computer performance increases by 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 antispyware and antivirus programs (generally antimalware, malware means malicious software) are actually free. Some of the most suspicious programs (with the exception of some well-known 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 a nuisance to a nightmare, and the initial cost can be only $40 or so, but wait until you try to remove it.
Scareware/Scamware/Rogueware (same thing) tries scare (hence the name Scareware) to make you think you have a worse problem than you have, so you’ll buy your software that does nothing but scare and annoy you by creating problems where none existed (hence the Scamware/rogueware part) . Scamware will often install itself on your computer without your explicit knowledge or 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 rogue antivirus (ie scareware)?
- First it gets 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 flashing warning messages on your taskbar.
- 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 it already found something. And that something usually sounds horrible!
- If you see a warning pop-up, it will be phrased urgently, like your computer will fall apart if you don’t hurry up and do something. Aggressive warning messages use scare tactics and usually direct you back to the scamware website as well (so you can buy it).
- Rogueware often hijacks your browser so that any website you try to access automatically takes you back to his website. Some, however, are nice: they will only redirect you when you try to go to a site like TrendMicro’s Housecall.
- If the software runs a scan, you will see numerous things appear. It will appear that you are not just 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 don’t recognize. If you removed them, you might end up with further issues!
- If you are tricked into buying it and try to fix the “problems” shown in the scan results, your computer still it will not work smoothly because it will still be infected with the fake 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 scams. There is a long list of fake antivirus software on Wikipedia. Popular programs include:
- XP Security Center
- Internet Safety 2010
- Win Antivirus Pro
- ByteDefender
- Windows protection suite
- Antivirus XP Pro
- virus scan
- XP Defender Pro
- anti virus 2009
- Windows Security Center (a fake Windows Security Center designed to closely resemble 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 programs (or generally antimalware, since many also double as antivirus software) are FREE. HijackThis, Spybot Search & Destroy, AVG, Avast, Avira, SuperAntispyware, ComboFix, MalwareBytes, WinsockXP Fix (which can repair an Internet connection after malware is removed) and more are FREE (some have free and pro/paid versions) and they work very well 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 somehow! 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 No 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 necessary hardware specifications to be a fast machine, it won’t be fast no matter how much you clean it up. Your computer can only operate within its limits, and any computer that has been in use for a while will almost definitely 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, research it. Do a Google search and find the results you see the most. Multiple search results mentioning it’s a virus? Stay away!
