“Have Your PC Running Like New” — Not!
I have alerted my readers to the epidemic of rogue antivirus and rogue anti-spyware programs that are plaguing the Internet in several prior articles. These are programs that claim to remove infections, but actually are infections..
(please see “It Said I Was Infected“)
Usually, folks who call me for aid with these have visited a website which has been “poisoned” by a cyber-criminal, and a popup window opened saying “Warning! A virus has been detected on this machine! Click here to clean virus-sounding-name from your machine!“
(Or, perhaps.. an “adult” website which told them they needed a certain ‘codec’ to see the movie…ahem.)
But antivirus and anti-spyware are not the only rogues, and fake popup warnings are not the only method of attack–
An e-mail slipped through my filters today for PC Speed Scan Pro:
From: PC Solutions, Subject: Have Your PC Running Like New.
As you can see, it is a “Registry Optimizer” that sounds like it does wonderful things…
..and here’s what a quick Google search revealed.
Not good. (Further exploration shows it contains a trojan)
Folks, I am not going to debate whether legitimate registry cleaners do or do not really enhance your machine, and I don’t want you to think that all ‘free scans’ are evil.
Save that for another day.
What I do want you to think about is this:
* Someone went to an awful lot of time and effort to make this “product” appear legit.
* It came (uninvited) in the mail.
* This type of malware is very difficult to remove.
* It is a lot easier to sift the good from the bad with the colored “doughnuts” of the WOT toolbar (red=”bad”).
I cannot say it enough– the Internet is a very dangerous and insecure place, and there’s predators lurking there whose full-time job it is to fleece the unwary.
Today’s free link(s): Three today. First, if you didn’t click on my article (above) “It Said I Was Infected”, you’re missing out on a video which demonstrates how these rogues work. Read it and see how people are duped into giving their credit card numbers.
And second, for you, and your friends and family, Bill Mullins has a primer on how to be wary on the Internet, “Internet And System Security–Common Sense Tips“
And third, for more on WOT, see “WOT” to trust; “WOT” not to trust!
[note: some of these products are airing television commercials, and falsely claiming affiliation with trusted names, like The Wall Street Journal. for more on this, read Finally Fast.com - Fast Scam! Free Alternative Software, and Stop-Sign and FinallyFast and P.T. Barnum]
[update: Ascentive is now marketing this stuff under the name FastAtLast as well. Guess word of this scam is getting around.]
Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved.
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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.
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Copyright 2007-9 © by Tech Paul. All rights reserved.
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Folks, this is not one of those "trick you into buying" free scans, but a scan that show what is running, and loaded to run (Startup folder, etc.). You can also click links to learn more about the files it finds. And, please, do a search before you decide something doesn't belong. 
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[...] qwandor wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptI have alerted my readers to the epidemic of rogue antivirus and rogue anti-spyware programs that are plaguing the Internet in several prior articles. These are programs that claim to remove infections, but actually are infections.. (please see “It Said I Was Infected“) Usually, folks who call me for aid with these have visited a website which has been “poisoned” by a cyber-criminal, and a popup window opened saying “Warning! A virus has been detected on this machine! Click here to clean virus-sounding-name from your machine!“ (Or, perhaps.. an “adult” website which told them they needed a certain ‘codec’ to see the movie…ahem.) But antivirus and anti-spyware are not the only rogues, and fake popup warnings are not the only method of attack– An e-mail slipped through my filters today: From: PC Solutions, Subject: Have Your PC Running Like New. [...]
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