[Ultimate User]

There is a fake antivirus doing the rounds which pretends to find loads of virii and stuff on your PC and then you pay for the "full version" to rid yourself of the infections when there are, in fact, none there. Pretty nasty trick, eh?


This is what the program looks like :

Quote

It is designed to simulate a scan of the computer, supposedly detecting thousands of strains of (non-existent) malware. The end aim is to sell users a pay version of the fake antivirus in order to eliminate the threats.

When run, this adware warns the user that the computer is not protected. The main screen displayed is a spoof of the Window Security Center.

It then pretends to scan the system for malware. If users do not immediately take the bait and buy the pay version of the fake antivirus, the malicious code will sporadically display a message reminding the user that the computer is infected.

In warning messages, and after the fake scan, a link is provided from which users can download the fake antivirus. Anyone clicking on the link will be redirected to a page like this.

Additionally, when infected users visit certain Web pages with comparative reviews of antivirus products, there will be redirected to a spoof page showing a review of an 'antivirus', called Antivirus2010, with functions and characteristics similar to Anti-Virus-1.

So if you see this, remove it from your PC immediately.

If your system is suffering with virus infection, then follow instructions given here


If your system is suffering with virus infection, then follow instructions given here.

Also install a good and genuine anti-virus. You can this article to test the efficiency of your existing security programs.

[drummwill]

Ultimate User, on Mar 5 2009, 03:17 PM, said:

There is a fake antivirus doing the rounds which pretends to find loads of virii and stuff on your PC and then you pay for the "full version" to rid yourself of the infections when there are, in fact, none there. Pretty nasty trick, eh?


This is what the program looks like :

Quote

It is designed to simulate a scan of the computer, supposedly detecting thousands of strains of (non-existent) malware. The end aim is to sell users a pay version of the fake antivirus in order to eliminate the threats.

When run, this adware warns the user that the computer is not protected. The main screen displayed is a spoof of the Window Security Center.

It then pretends to scan the system for malware. If users do not immediately take the bait and buy the pay version of the fake antivirus, the malicious code will sporadically display a message reminding the user that the computer is infected.

In warning messages, and after the fake scan, a link is provided from which users can download the fake antivirus. Anyone clicking on the link will be redirected to a page like this.

Additionally, when infected users visit certain Web pages with comparative reviews of antivirus products, there will be redirected to a spoof page showing a review of an 'antivirus', called Antivirus2010, with functions and characteristics similar to Anti-Virus-1.

So if you see this, remove it from your PC immediately.

If your system is suffering with virus infection, then follow instructions given here


If your system is suffering with virus infection, then follow instructions given here.

Also install a good and genuine anti-virus. You can this article to test the efficiency of your existing security programs.

thanks for the heads up

[.Jamie]

There's been loads of these around, my mum had one not long ago which infected IE6 and whenever you'd start it it'll tell you to scan your computer for viruses, take you to a web page where it tells you you have loads of viruses and tells you to buy the full software to remove them. She asked me about it and I said it was just rubbish and told her to download AVG which then removed it.

[WizardCM]

This antivirus is also known as MS Antivirus 2009.

[The Vista Forums Win]

Watch out for VirusDoctor2008 as well. It's bull****

[pat cooke]

Thanks for pointing that particular one out but we also need to be aware that it is just one of many where a single click on an advert promising to help rid you of all infections immediately infects yo with malware which can be extremely difficult to get rid of unless you buy their "professional version". The general rule is to avoid selecting any of these options or links and sticking to your regular antivirus package - it should be all you need if it's one of the decent ones.

[Du3ky]

Yea theirs also one called A30 or Anti virus 360.
Looks the same as Anti virus 1 but in reverse.
I had this on my sisters computer.
I removed it with msconfig,to stop it auto starting, and downloaded Malwarebytes Antimalware
This will remove it.
Hope no one gets tricked by this, coz my sister did

[docdark1]

There are a lot of scams and systems that don't work so from experience I can assure you that Cyberdefender has been the best one thus far.

[Metal_Mickey]

I have come across another one of these internet based scam virus scans it's called 'powerantivirusscannerv2'

Again, it listed loads of Trojans and Malware as being present of my PC. However, McAfee found nothing!

[amon91]

Yeah, I first read about those fake anti-spyware programs years ago when there was little awareness of the problem. Now I try to play around and have fun with them, when I have nothing better do do (on a virtualized environment, of course).

[Allan©]

Avast rocks for this

[amon91]

Allan©, on Jun 16 2009, 02:58 PM, said:

Avast rocks for this

If they had a better UI. I know it sounds silly to compare UIs on antivirus software, but the one of avast just stinks IMO.

[anveshkn]

i think its better to list out all such fake anti-viruses in the first post..fake anti-viruses have larger impact than normal ones as people download the fake ones only when they have no security software

[amon91]

anveshkn, on 26 September 2009 - 08:50 AM, said:

i think its better to list out all such fake anti-viruses in the first post..

That's impossible. There are tons.

[Frost46]

anveshkn, on 26 September 2009 - 08:50 AM, said:

i think its better to list out all such fake anti-viruses in the first post..fake anti-viruses have larger impact than normal ones as people download the fake ones only when they have no security software

Then they should ask us and we will help .

[TechMan8]

I had this on my computer!

Well actually, my mom got it on her computer. She did not download anything though, it did by itself... somehow...

It was called Total Protection. It accessed system files. It tried to get you to buy the full version, displaying all kinds of fake viruses (No, it's not McAfee's thing)

It's stupid... took forever to remove it.

[amon91]

TechMan8, on 02 October 2009 - 08:36 PM, said:

Well actually, my mom got it on her computer. She did not download anything though, it did by itself... somehow...

She either went to some malicious website or more likely, the computer was already infected with some other crap. It's important to run routine spyware scans and make sure both the antivirus software and the operating system are up-to-date.