Tag: SCAREWARE

The father-son team behind a massive 'scareware' scam will have to pay $8.2 million to the Federal Trade Commission, in order to settle a complaint filed by the government agency. Marc D'Souza and his father Maurice were allegedly at the center of the scam, which tricked Internet users into buying fake security software to combat computer infections that didn't really exist. The operators ...

A new IRS-inspired e-mail phishing scam emerged last week and hit accounts across the nation, USA Today reports. Unlike previous IRS-related scams, which enticed people with promises of free stimulus money, last week's spam blast attempted to ensnare targets with scare tactics. The e-mail message, which appeared to be from the IRS, alerted people to the supposed fact that earnings had been ...

If stories with twisted logic make your head hurt, you might want to just scroll on down the page and read the next story. Or, go pop an aspirin, because this one's a bit of a doozy. According to Reuters' account of Microsoft's annual Security Intelligence Report, published on Wednesday, people's fears of being infected by viruses and other malicious software is actually helping those viruses ...

Anti-Virus-1, a new bit of malware making its way around the Internet, has picked up a unique trick for fooling users; it spreads fake reviews of itself to convince users that it is a legitimate piece of anti-virus software. Anti-Virus-1 is what is often referred to as scareware. It uses social engineering techniques to lure its unsuspecting victims into handing over information like credit ...

Chances are you've seen some flashing ads from time to time on certain sites, ads that say your computer is infected with a virus or running more slowly than usual and that, if you don't buy their software, you're utterly screwed! In case you didn't know, we assure you that there's virtually no way for a flashing ad like that to have any idea what's wrong with your PC. So, those ads are basically ...