scareware

Fourth Scam of Xmas, Fake Anti-virus & Scareware

For the fourth scam of Christmas, the criminals gave to me… fake antivirus pop-ups scaring my family! I have had this scam hit my family twice. The last time, my husband accidentally clicked on what looked like a message that the computer had a virus and Bam! We got the scary blue screen. These scams Read more…

Tags: blue screen, fake anti-virus software, malicious program, online safety, pop ups, scareware, virus

12 Scams of the Holidays: Do Not Let Cybercriminals Steal Your Holiday Spirit

Tis the season to be wary, fa la la la la la la la la. The holidays are just around the corner and as we prepare for the excitement and mayhem of holiday planning and shopping, we must not forget that we are not alone. Cybercriminals, too, are looking forward to the hubbub of holiday Read more…

Tags: 12 Scams of Christmas, canada online scams, holiday shopping, malware threats, scareware, social media threats

McAfee Warns Consumers of the Twelve Scams of Christmas

 ‘Tis the season for consumers to spend more time online – shopping for gifts, looking for great holiday deals on new digital gadgets, e-planning family get-togethers and of course, using online or mobile banking to make sure they can afford it all. But before logging on from a PC, Mac, or mobile device, you should Read more…

Tags: 12 Scams of Christmas, Charity Phishing Scams, Consumer, digital gadgets, Fake Anti Virus Scams, gift scams, holiday shopping, infected mobile apps, mac malware, McAfee, mobile malware, online banking, online coupon scams, online shopping, phishing scams, protect devices, scareware, screensavers, smishing, social media online scams, UPS scams

Pay-per-Install Malware Tries New Business Model

In an age in which money is king, I was surprised to discover this week a new forum that offers many malware for free. I found a post, below, as well as various announcements on the Net that call this site a botnet paradise. Curious, I attempted to register. After a one-day wait, I was able Read more…

Tags: fake anti-virus software, malware forums, pay-per-install malware, scareware

FBI Warns About Scareware, Targets Distributors

Do you remember when I wrote this blog about the scareware my husband stumbled upon? Well, I was thinking about that recently when the FBI sent out this update about 12 countries working together to take down two scareware crime rings. Would you believe that the scam that was initially noticed cost victims $72 million??? Read more…

Tags: Fake Anti Virus Scams, fake anti-virus software, scareware

Finding the Money Behind Rogue Pharmacies

It is relatively easy for illegitimate websites to “poison” Google search results and achieve a top-5 ranking. And it’s financially well worth their while. Last Friday, at the French CLUSIR/RSSIA conference, Frédéric Roumat from EdelWeb (groupe ON-X) gave us an impressively argued demonstration on the subject. After Roumat exposed the methods to gain illegal traffic Read more…

Tags: Cybercrime, scareware, Search engine optimization, Search engine poisoning

What Do I Do? Scareware Pop Ups

You don’t have to tell me that malware is at an all time high. I have had at least one friend per week get hit with a trojan or koobface since before the holidays. They click on a bad link somewhere on the net and then notice the stream of spam from them in email, Read more…

Tags: keep family PC safe, scareware

Scareware Makes Cybercrooks Hundreds of Millions Each Year

Fake antivirus and anti-spyware software, or “scareware”, now represents 23% of all malware in circulation, McAfee warns Forget ghosts and goblins, what you should really be scared of this Halloween is “scareware.” It’s a trick that cyberscammers have been using to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars each year – and it’s no treat Read more…

Tags: consumer threat alert, fake anti-virus software, scareware

Celebrating Cybersuccess

You may have read about the latest success against cybercrime in the case against Innovative Marketing. It’s one of the many days that I’m proud of our McAfee Labs researchers around the world. McAfee Labs researchers frequently assist where needed, but don’t necessarily get recognized publicly. Our researchers not only deal with tracking millions of malware Read more…

Tags: Corporate Responsibility, Cybercrime, national cybersecurity awareness month, Public Sector, scareware

If it smells ‘phishy’, it probably is!

During the school holidays I was surprised by the number of people I spoke to who commented that they had received a larger than normal number of phishing emails in their inbox.  But it was a conversation I had with an uncle of mine about a “funny” experience he had had while selling a car Read more…

Tags: antivirus, fake ant, fake anti-virus software, fake software, ID theft, McAfee, online threats, rogue anti-virus software, scareware, Viruses