Dangerous Links, Phishing, and WOT
A recent article of mine has proven very popular. It discussed the recent epidemic of “rogue” antivirus and anti-spyware programs that is plaguing the Internet these days — such as Virus Response Lab 2009, Antivirus XP, and — literally — hundreds of others.
These programs are really the tools used by cyber-criminals to infect your machine with malware… not clean it up, as you’re led to believe. (The article link [above] has a video demonstrating a rogue program.) As a bonus, you’re asked to provide your credit card number to buy the “full” (or, “Pro”) version.
What do you think criminals do with those cc#’s????
Regular readers are aware that I frequently post ‘alerts’ to the latest scams arriving via e-mail. Spam.
Here the latest, a classic phish:
from: AccountRobot_donotreply@e-gold.com
Subject: Notification of e-gold account update
What I’d like you to notice is the red circle next to the hyperlink .
That is the WOT (Web Of Trust) toolbar’s (now automatically integrated into Gmail, because I’m viewing it in a browser) website rating.
I’m no rocket scientist.. but I am pretty sure red means “bad”.. and/or, “stop”.
This website rating — with its easy to understand color code — tool can really save you a lot of pain and loss from phishing and poisoned websites; because the criminals are going to tremendous efforts to make their scams look legit (and to poison truly legit sites).
I’ll say it again– the Internet today is a very insecure and dangerous place!
There are many anti-phishing tools and plug-ins and filters to choose from (some are built into your browser, if you enable them) but if you want a quick, clean, easy to understand warning tool– give the WOT toolbar a try.
Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved.
post to jaanix
| Share this post : |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
8 Comments »
Leave a comment
About Tech Paul
Welcome to my blog. I am a CompTIA Certified computer technician, and the owner of Aplus Computer Aid. I offer my affordable and friendly services via remote control over the Web, or over the phone. My email is tech4everyone(at)gmail.com.
I regularly post how-to’s and tricks & tips and general computing advice. Sometimes I will answer (your) specific questions in an article if I believe that it is generally helpful to “everyone”. All the writing you see is my own, typos and all.
I do my very best to provide the best solutions and advice. I use only industry best practices, and reliable sources for my research. I strive to Do No Harm.
Note: You are responsible for using this blog and its content. I am in no way liable for any losses caused by user error, viruses and/or other malware, hardware or software failure, or any other conceivable reason.
-
Copyright 2007-9 © by Tech Paul. All rights reserved.
Subscribe in a reader
---------------------
* Subscribe to Tech--for Everyone by Email
--------------------- post to jaanix
-
-
What Readers Are Saying
techpaul on Get 3.5 Bill Mullins on Get 3.5 techpaul on Just Say “No” To… Dennis E Miller on Just Say “No” To… techpaul on In These Tough Times, Could Yo… pochp on In These Tough Times, Could Yo… techpaul on In These Tough Times, Could Yo… g on In These Tough Times, Could Yo… -
-
-
-
-
[...] lewisshepherd wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptA recent article of mine has proven very popular. It discussed the recent epidemic of “rogue” antivirus and anti-spyware programs that is plaguing the Internet these days — such as Virus Response Lab 2009, Antivirus XP, and — literally — hundreds of others. These programs are really the tools used by cyber-criminals to infect your machine with malware… not clean it up, as you’re led to believe. (The article link [above] has a video demonstrating a rogue program.) As a bonus, you’re asked to provide your credit card number to buy the “full” (or, “Pro”) version. What do you think criminals do with those cc#’s???? Regular readers are aware that I frequently post ‘alerts’ to the latest scams arriving via e-mail. Spam. Here the latest, a classic phish: from: AccountRobot_donotreply@e-gold.com Subject: Notification of e-gold account update [...]
Pingback by Dangerous Links, Phishing, and WOT | October 10, 2008 |
[...] here to see the original: Dangerous Links, Phishing, and WOT Categories: Online ScamTags: anti-spyware, computers, cyber-crime, dangerous-links, fraud, hackers, [...]
Pingback by Dangerous Links, Phishing, and WOT | Conning Us | October 10, 2008 |
how to remove “virus response lab2009″. it had been istalled in my system. pls help me
Thanks, Paul, for pointing out Gmail can be made safer with WOT. We have a short video, How to make Gmail safer, about that very subject.
And because our WOT users asked for it, look for WOT support of other popular web-based email programs in the near future.
[...] Dangerous Links, Phishing, and WOT(13 October 2008) A recent article of mine has proven very popular. It discussed the recent epidemic of 8220rogue8221 antivirus and antispyware programs that is plaguin… [...]
Pingback by SOMERSET | October 13, 2008 |
Hussain–
I recommend wiping your hard-drive and starting fresh, or hiring a professional to deal with these horribly nasty infections.
However– the words “Virus Response” in the article are a clickable link to Bill Mullins article on removal techniques.
Deborah–
I look forward to being able to announce the improvements in your toolbar.. I hope we don’t have to wait too long!
Thanx a lot