Scareware Beware!

There is a new internet scam going around now. It is called Scareware! So what exactly is Scareware? You have heard of spyware and shareware, and now there is Scareware. And it can be scary indeed, along with costly. Scareware shows up on a computer, saying that there is a problem and offers to fix it, for a price. The ads warn people their computer is infected, maybe with illegal porn or worse a dreaded virus that will crash their computer. Experts say these ads are a front for a nasty virus. They are a mask for a virus that tries to scare people in to buying anti-spyware. You are at risk even if you don't buy the anti-spyware. What they are doing is basically asking you to pay money to protect your computer from them!

Scammers make very realistic copies of real sites and then booby trap these sites with a virus. Once you are on of these sites the Scareware alerts you to a problem and offers to scan your computer and then finds all kinds of problems. And then tries to sell you anti-virus software at $49.95. It doesn't matter if you buy the software or not because by this time pop-up ads take over your computer multiplying too fast to close and you can't get your computer to release until you buy the software!

Microsoft's latest intelligence report says that 8 million computers have been infected with Scareware! The Federal Trade Commission says 1 million people have had their computers infected with Scareware and the scammers have scammed those million people out of $40,000!

So, how can you protect yourself from this Scareware? You can always check out the RipOff Report or the Better Business Bureau before you do ANYTHING online. But the best advice I can give you is NEVER click on a link in an email unless you know who that email is from and NEVER EVER click on an ad saying you may have a virus on your computer because if you do click, you will definitely have a problem. It will fry your computer!

An informed consumer is a smart consumer!