Antivirus 2008—a Wolf in Microsoft Clothing : Antivirus

Best Registry Cleaner

 

The internet is a dangerous enough place.  We hear about online predators and immediately think of perverts.  There are other predators on the worldwide web that are only interested in conning you out of your money.  It is, in fact, more prevalent than most other forms of victimizing on the net.  Antivirus 2008 is the product of such victimization.

By and large, it’s probably safe to say that most people can smell a slick con man when they see one.  In fact, if the word “sales” is involved in someone’s job title, they’re often immediately suspicious.  Unfortunately, it’s not always so easy in a situation where there is no real face-to-face contact.

In any sort of sales business, it is standard marketing practice to convince people that they need your product.  To actually put someone in the situation of needing a product you offer is unethical and criminal; it is the mentality of the Mafia.  To take it a step further and not even really provide any service for the money is flat out fraud.  Especially if you masquerade as something most people trust.

This is precisely what the bogus antivirus family, collectively part of the “fraudware” family of viruses do.  They go by several different names, and probably will have new aliases in years to come.  They all do the same thing.  They infect your computer, tell you that your computer is infected with hundreds of other viruses (they often count harmless temporary files as viruses), and tell you that you need to buy the “update” in order to clean out these “viruses.”  They all do this under the pretense of being a part of your computer’s operating system.

Should you buy the “update,” the problems with your computer will temporarily stop.  However, after a few days or weeks, you will have problems again, and they will ask you for more money.  This can go on for the rest of your computer’s life.

The first thing to know is that no part of Windows XP or Vista will ever tell you that your computer is infected until you run the Malware Removal Tool.  The problem with MRT is that it detects relatively few viruses and spyware anyway, compared to other antivirus programs.  Secondly, no part of a Windows operating system will ever ask you for money.  Thirdly, you can only download their software at the Windows update site.  If there is something that seems to be part of your system saying otherwise, you’ve been infected with one of these fraudware programs.

There is one thing that these virus programs are saying is true.  You will need an antivirus tool to remove these problems.  But above all, paying them should be avoided.  It is, after all, a scam.  You should invest in a real antivirus program, one that actually works.  But then, very few antivirus programs will work against Antivirus 2008 or its siblings.  Shop around and your efforts will be well rewarded.

 

Carl runs a site devoted to helping you rid your computer from all sorts of spyware and malware at http://www.spyzooka.com/

You can read more posts here:
Antivirus 2008—a Wolf in Microsoft Clothing