SJW Tech Services

There definitely is a new trend popping up and it’s called “scareware.” The tactic basically involves some kind of Internet Explorer advertisement that looks really similar to Windows, and tries to “scare” you into thinking you’re infected:

Once you’re convinced that you’ve been infected, you click “OK” and illegitimate anti-virus software is downloaded and installed on your machine.

One such scam that I’ve seen several times already is called “Personal Antivirus” (pictured above). Don’t fall for this scam – the only alerts you should trust will explicitly say the name of your anti-virus software. e.g. “avast! has detected a threat…” If you have been “infected” with this software, it can be a nasty bugger to remove – it plants itself inside IE, sometimes in your startup items, your registry, and may or may not even show up in the Add/Remove Programs control panel. If you do become infected, it’s a good idea NOT to login to banking/eBay/credit card websites until you’re sure the computer is clean. Remember, you can call me for all you’re virus/malware/spyware removing needs at 865.803.5092.