Escaping From Fake Antispyware Programs

Readers Beware! There are some very nasty programs going around the Net these days masquerading as spyware/malware removers. These programs are, in fact, malware. They are bogus and designed to make you buy a totally useless product that you do not really need.



Some of you may already be victims of these programs -WinAntivirus 2009, XPAntivirus 2009, etc. Whatever the name, they are one and the same program. They are often offered as free spyware scans of your system. When you download them, they hide themselves throughout your system folder and leave no obvious clues to their whereabouts on your system.



They disable your legitimate antivirus programs and hijack the security features on your system. The scans always find tons of problems with your system and try to scare you into buying the full program to get rid of these problems. One of them even goes as far as "identifying" the source of an "incoming" virus attack! Please note that all the information displayed by these programs are BOGUS! The problems "found" on your system are part of a file that the program executes to scare you into buying the equally-bogus retail version. DO NOT BUY THE PROGRAM!



If you are computer literate, you can find excellent help to remove these malware infections at http://forums.majorgeeks.com/. You can also use a little program called "Killbox" to stop the program from executing. Killbox will actually stop files that are in-use and delete them from your system. Best of all, it's a free program! Kudos to producers of freeware! (Don't forget to donate whatever you can to help these guys.)



If your system has been too compromised to allow you to use the internet, try this temporary solution. Click "Start", "All Programs", "Accessories", "System Tools", "System Restore". Then set your computer back to the last known good working date you can remember. To be safe, set it back about 2 weeks before the software was downloaded. This should reset your system files and nullify the effects of the program. Then go online and get help to remove these nasty infections.



To Your Good Health,
Muhammad Sayyid